


The tragedy of twin souls

by AnaBrooke0



Category: Magisterium Series - Holly Black & Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-14
Updated: 2019-09-16
Packaged: 2020-03-05 10:07:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 31
Words: 25,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18826498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnaBrooke0/pseuds/AnaBrooke0
Summary: This is what would have happened if Constantine had refused to experiment with Joseph.





	1. Chapter 1

The moon light reflected off the stones in on the ground, a circle of pine trees hiding the clearing from anyone who did not know it was there. Ivy had grown on the trees, the ivy's flowers catching the moon light, shining as if they wanted to be like the stars spreading light in the sky. 

In the center of the clearing lay two almost identical boys. The first boy looked at the sky, seeing all the beauty. The other saw the light of the stars, but the darkness holding the stars apart as well. Both were needed to make the night sky so... amazing... enchanting... indescribably beautiful.

"Constantine?" the first boy said.

"Yes Jericho." the second responded, closing his eyes.

"We need to talk." Jericho said.

"About what?" Constantine said.

"I know that your experiments with Master Joseph are important to you," Jericho began, "and I think it is an honor to be my brothers counterweight," he continued, "but recently you have been experimenting more and more. I think you should back off for a while. Taking breaks is important too."

"I know taking breaks is important." Constantine replied. "That's why I come star gaze with you, isn't it?" he said smiling.

"You come because you enjoy it Con." Jericho remarked.

"Well I enjoy experimenting too. You don't really want me to stop doing something I enjoy, do you?" Constantine asked.

They were both silent for a while. Then Jericho quietly answered, "Yes I do. I do expect you to stop experimenting, even if you do enjoy it. I thought maybe you would be able to see it but since you can't, let me tell you." Jericho's voice had grown louder. "Con, it hurts me. Being your counterweight has taken a toll on me. Maybe you don't need a break, but I do."

At that Constantine opened his eyes. "What do you mean 'it hurts you' to be my counterweight?" he asked confused.

"I don't know. It just hurts." Jericho said lowering his voice. "I can't take it any longer. Please, no more. At least for a little while." he requested getting up, leaving Constantine all alone in the clearing, looking up at the mysterious contrast of light and dark that make up the night sky.

 

I do not own the Magisterium Series. The Magisterium Series belongs to Holly Black and Cassandra Clare. 


	2. Chapter 2

By the time Constantine was back at the Magisterium Jericho was already in his room. Constantine made his way to his room, got dressed, and went to sleep. It was a restless sleep and he was already up and dressed when his alarm went off. He didn't wait for the others like he normally did. There was something he had to do, "I would never hurt you, I always do what I think is right, and forever I will. Till the day I die" he whispered as he walked past Jericho's door. 

His footsteps echoed through the hallway. It was weird to be awake when his alarm went off instead of waking up when it went off. 

He stopped, the silence without his footsteps making him uneasy, which didn't happen often. He knocked on the door in front of him. 

"Come in." a voice said from within. 

Constantine opened the door and stepped into the room, the lights were dim, as usual. "I have something I need to tell you." the boy said to the man sitting behind the sturdy oak desk. 

"What is it Constantine?" said the man.

"Joseph, it has come to my attention that the effect of being a counterweight is a subject that has not been studied very much. That being said, I will not put my brother's soul in jeopardy just for the sake of our experiments. Jericho means the world to me and I will not risk harming him. I won't ." he finished.

Constantine didn't wait for Joseph to answer, he just walked out and made his way to the refectory. He sat down at the table next to Jericho and said, "So I was thinking, instead of experimenting today, we should go hang out with Alastair, Sarah, and Declan. I better keep tabs on how Alastair and Sarah's relationship is going, did you two kiss yet? I better not have missed that." Constantine said relaxing for the first time in a while. 

 

I hope you like this fanfiction so far. I love exploring Constantine's love for his brother and can't believe that he would ever have as Jericho put it in the 4th book, page 128 "shredded" his soul. 

 

I do not own the Magisterium Series. All rights go to Holly Black and Cassandra Clare.


	3. Chapter 3

Constantine woke up to the sound of his alarm. What a night. He had forgotten how good it felt to just hang out with his friends and have a good time. He thought about what Jericho had said, maybe he would take a break. Actually, he thought, I have already found out so much about chaos. Why should I do more experiments? He thought of how Alastair had taken a liking to earth magic. He didn't exactly 'like' chaos. Just because he was a Makar didn't mean that he had to be into chaos. But if he didn't focus on chaos, what would he focus on.

By then he had gotten dressed and was heading to the refectory to eat breakfast. After quietly eating breakfast, he walked with Jericho to were Master Rufus was waiting for his apprentices. 

They walked to a classroom with desks and a chalkboard. Master Rufus began, "Today we will be learning about healing magic." he continued talking about how Healers not only needed to draw on the earth to bind wounds, but rely on non-magical practices as well so that they don't run out of magical energy while trying to save people. 

Healing magic. Constantine loved helping people and wasn't squeamish when it came to blood or anything like that. He also was pretty powerful. He decided then and there that he was going to be the best healer in the world. He would save lives.

After class the apprentices headed back to their common room. When they got there, they found Joseph waiting. "Constantine. I'd like a word with you please." Joseph said. 

"Alright." Constantine said wanting to get this over with.

"Walk with me." Joseph said. Constantine walked with Joseph to the room they experimented in.

"If you think that bringing me here will change my mind you are wrong." Constantine said, "I meant what I said yesterday. I will not play a game of chance with the life of my brother."  
"I know" Joseph said.

"Then what is it you want to talk to me about." Constantine said irritated at Joseph's mind games.

"I only wish to tell you that I am sincerely sorry it had to come to this." Joseph said as a woman walked into the room.

"What is that supposed to mean? And who is this?" Constantine said that uneasy feeling washing over him that second time that week.

"This is my master. She or well, originally he, Maugris, has been alive for thousands of years. Moving his soul from makar to makar. Now that you are of no further use, that same fate will be yours." Joseph said smiling.

Maugris raised his hand toward Constantine. Constantine felt power radiate off Maugris and knew he had no chance of surviving. If Maugris tried to take his body, he would die.   
Constantine saw Maugris's soul shoot toward him, and he could do nothing. Accepting his death, he closed his eyes and pictured the night sky. He wondered what happened when someone died. What actually happened to their soul? He knew he was about to find out. 

He heard a crash. He still felt the same. Had Maugris failed? Had he changed his mind? Constantine opened his eyes to find Jericho standing in front of him. 

"Get out of the way boy." Maugris said. "Such a shame. Now we will have to kill you too." Maugris reached out and grabbed Jericho's soul. In the blink of an eye, Jericho was dead.

Jericho's body fell. Constantine rushed forward to catch him."Noooooo" Constantine yelled. "n]No no no no noooo" he screamed as he held Jericho in his arms, rocking him back and forth. "He's dead. You killed him. He didn't do anything. How could you?" Constantine yelled anger swelling up inside him.

"Easy." Maugris said. "He would have told. All I did was eliminate a liability."

 

I do not own the Magisterium Series. All rights go to Holly Black and Cassandra Clare.


	4. Chapter 4

Constantine slowly, gently lay Jericho's body down. He brushed Jericho's hair off to the side, tears streaming down his cheeks, the only sound was the pounding of his heart, his blood felt like fire rushing through his veins. "You will pay." he yelled "You will pay for killing my brother you vile scum. As for you Joseph, I think I will let you live. I'll take you to jail and let you rot."

"You amuse me" Maugris said, "You knew you couldn't stop me before, you brother's death has changed nothing."

"Yes it has" Constantine said. "Sometimes, brothers remind us of who we really are. I am Constantine Madden. I am powerful. This is my body, and you can't have it."

"Is that so" said Maugris.

"Yes." Constantine said confidently.

"Well, then I look forward to beating you, just like I did all the others who decided to fight."

Maugris, tired of this whole ordeal taking longer than he wanted it to, made his move. He moved his soul into Constantine. 

Constantine felt power rush into him. He pushed at it with his own power. Everything hurt, it was painful but not like normal pain. It was every where and nowhere all at once. He fought it, he could feel himself fading. He pushed at the darkness, he reached for the light, but he couldn't. He couldn't do anything, just slowly watch as everything faded. He failed.  
Constantine slowly got up. He walked over to Jericho. "Maugris?" Joseph said. 

"Of course it's me. You don't really think I could have been beaten by someone like him do you?" Maugris said, "This body is now mine. Go get the other Masters. There's been an accident." and with that, the lips that were once Constantine Madden's, slowly curled into a smile.

\------------------------------  
Constantine didn't know where he was. It was dark. He couldn't see anything. Where was he? What was going on? How did he get here? He tried to move but couldn't. Then he remembered. Joseph's treachery. Jericho's death. Maugris had taken his body. Where was he now? Was he dead? No, he couldn't be, he wasn't in heaven. He didn't think this was hell.   
His memories started flashing before his eyes. Each one disappearing. He tried to grab them but he couldn't. He couldn't do anything. Why was he useless. If only I was stronger he thought. Then I would be able to do something. I would have been able to save my brother. To stop Maugris and Joseph. 

Fading. Everything faded. Everything was gone.

\----------------------------------  
Screams cried out in the hospital. And a baby was born into the world. He opened his green eyes and they named him Aaron. But his soul had a different name.

 

I hope you all enjoyed. Personally I don't believe in reincarnation but I thought it would be cool to bring into this story. I don't know why I made Aaron the reincarnation of Constantine. I guess it was because I think they had a lot of similarities. They were both charming makars who loved their counterweights.  
All rights go to Holly Black and Cassandra Clare. I do not own the magisterium series or any of the characters. 


	5. Chapter 5

Aaron arrived at the airplane hanger ten minutes before the iron trial was going to start. He had ran through his plan thousands of times. Thought through every single detail. Ever since he remembered who he was, it had started out as just a few memories. He was pretty sure he didn't remember every thing, but he remembered enough. He was Constantine Madden, and he was going to find Maugris and kill him. He was going to get revenge. 

Two people walked past him breaking him out of his thoughts. It was strange. He almost felt as if he knew them. They looked familiar. They were clearly father and son. Both had black hair and grey eyes. The son had a limp and was frowning, he looked a little nervous aswell. The pair made their way up the bleachers. He hated this feeling, almost remembering, the answer was on the tip of his tongue but he just couldn't remember. 

All of a sudden a mage started using magic to tell the potential apprentices to stand up and come. The iron trial was about to begin. He decided he would have to figure it out later. He stood up and headed toward where the other children were going. He wasn't nervous. He didn't need to be. He would get into the Magisterium. He would find Maugris. He would avenge his brother. 

The first test was a simple one. The mages had them use pens that would sense their power. The more you could write before the pen stopped working, the more powerful. He was about to start his test when he felt a surge of power behind him. He started to turn around and noticed that the grey eyed boy from earlier was shaking his pen extremely hard. Ink, a lot of it, came out of the pen. Aaron almost didn't have enough time to get out of the way. 

A few seconds passed in which the whole room just stared at the poor kid, "Callum Hunt," Master Milagros began before telling him to go get cleaned up. That power. It had felt strangely familiar, and that name. Hunt. Then he remembered. He remembered a boy from his past, one called Al. Alastair he realized. Callum's father, he had known him. They had been friends. He remembered, but only a little. He couldn't remember and solid memories. Just facts. He couldn't remember anything he had done with Alastair, just that he had been close to him. 

The rest of the trial went by quickly. He approached Callum after one of the tests where that same surge of magic had allowed Call to light a rubber ball on fire. The next test he watched Call merge a piece of paper to a desk, then deny having done so. He was trying to fail Aaron realized, but why? Someone with his ability, the mages couldn't seriously be blind enough to not realize that he had power. One of them would pick him, so why try to fail. 

"Aaron Stewart, your next to see Master Rufus." said another mage. This last test was the most important. He had remembered a little bit about Master Rufus already. Rufus had taught him when he was Constantine. Aaron got up and entered the room. 

It was dark in the room, the only light coming from a ball of fire that was floating above some water in a wooden bowl. This, this was the easiest test. Just keep the fire lit. Simple. He locked eyes with Rufus until he said, "That's long enough Aaron. Very good. You may go wait with the others." He had done it. Rufus would pick him. He was certain of it. 

 

I do not own the Magisterium Series. All rights go to Holly Black and Cassandra Clare.


	6. Chapter 6

Aaron waited on the bleachers as the rest of the students scores came in. He noticed that Callum was at the very bottom of the list... With a negative score. Why? Why would he do that? It didn't matter. He knew Master Rufus and he knew Rufus would only be more likely to pick Callum since he so obviously tried to fail.

Master Rufus came out of a hallway and started to address the audience. He remembered that during his iron trial as Constantine he was chosen first. He hated losing but he didn't want to draw to much attention to himself. 

Pick Tamara first, he thought, he was pretty sure Rufus would pick Tamara.

"My first apprentice will be Aaron Stewart" Master Rufus said. Rats. So much for not drawing attention. Still he couldn't help but smile. He loved winning.

He made his way up to stand beside Master Rufus as he continued. "Tamara Rajavi" he said and Tamara stood up, making her way over to stand next to Aaron.

"And my last apprentice will be Callum Hunt" yes, Aaron thought. I'm right again. Aarons mental excitement decreased when he turned to see the look of absolute horror on Callum's face. ...what is this kids problem. He has just been chosen by one of the greatest Masters ever.

"I said Callum Hunt. Callum please get down here." Rufus said.

"No." Alastair began, "you are not taking away another member of my family."

What in the world, Aaron thought, Alastair you should be happy. Why are you acting like this. By then some mages where taking Callum by force. 

Aaron didn't understand. Usually he could read people but he couldn't understand why Alastair was doing this. What could have possibly happened to cause Alastair to want to keep his own son from going to the Magisterium. It must have something to do with Maugris. Then he realised something. Alastair had said 'you are not taking away another member of my family' Where was Callum's mother. What had happened to Sarah. Al and Sarah had been inseparable.

A glint of metal broke Aaron out of his thoughts. He recognized it immediately. It was Sarah's knife. Instinctively he used air magic to grab the knife. Chill out Al, he thought, you could hurt someone. He turned to see a slightly shocked Callum. "I believe this is yours." He said handing Callum the knife.

Aaron decided then that he absolutely needed to know what had happened as soon as possible.


	7. Chapter 7

Once all the Masters had picked their apprentices they headed out side where a couple buses waited for them. Aaron saw a kid named Jasper talking heatedly with Callum. He almost wanted to go punch Jasper in the face. It was clear that Jasper was just complaining about how he hadn't been picked by Master Rufus. 

But after being picked first I really need to not draw anymore attention to myself, he thought. This was going to be harder that he originally thought it would.

"You're going to be begging to go home." He heard Japser say. Not on my watch, Aaron thought heading toward where they were standing.

"Wait," Callum started, "If you beg, they let you go home?" Internally laughing Aaron walked past them onto the bus. He'll be alright, Aaron realized. There was something about him that seemed so familiar. 

Wait. Sarcastic comments. Jericho had always been pretty sarcastic. He was the reincarnation of Constantine. Could Callum be Jericho? No. It couldn't be. He was thinking about it to hard. Then again. No. Stop it. You'll only end up dissapointing yourself. 

He noticed Callum sitting a couple seats away. ...he does seem familiar... that could just be because he is Al's son... but this feeling only happens when I meet someone I knew when I was Constantine. 

Master Rockmaple started telling them what they should expect at the Magisterium and a few basic things about magic. Aaron decided he didn't need to pay to much attention and started to focus on what was next.

He needed to find out what had happened after he died but he couldn't just ask. That might draw attention to him. He needed to blend in. Maybe if he acted like he didn't know very much about magic he could ask one of the legacy students. Tamara would do. Now if only Master Rockmaple would stop talking.


	8. Chapter 8

The bus stopped at a gas station after about an hour and a half. Aaron had meant to ask Tamara a few questions but ended up lost in thought instead. At the gas station he bought a bag of cheesy-garlic-bread-flavored Lays. He found it interesting how he liked them now, as Constantine he had hated Lays. Now he loved them. Of course when he was Constantine they hadn't had this flavor. 

After he got back on the bus Call sat behind him. He felt that weird sensation again. Why did he feel like he new Call? "Do you know where they're taking us?" Call said breaking Aaron out of his thoughts.

"The Magisterium. You know, the school? Where we're going to be apprentices?" Aaron answered, surprised that Call needed to ask. It had all been explained earlier.

"But where is it exactly? Where are the tunnels?" -who refers to the Magisterium as the tunnels, no wonder he's a little freaked out 'the tunnels' does sound a little sinister. Call went on, something about being locked in the rooms at night and bars on windows, who told him crazy stuff like that. 

Aaron realized that Call had stopped talking and was looking at him. "Uh, ... chip?" He said.

"Are you actually deranged?" Tamara chimed in somehow making the question seem completely not offensive. Perfect now I just have to somehow change the subject so I can get some answers. 

"You do know that when we get there, we're going to die, right?" Call said and the bus went silent. 

"All of us?" Some kid named Celia said.

Call explained how no not all of us, but some of us. The rest of the kids were looking at Call like he was crazy. Aaron wasn't though, he knew that what Call was saying had some truth to it. Jericho had been killed and so had he, kind off. "So who told you that? About us dying." 

"My father," Call told them his father had went to the Magisterium and something about the mages experimenting on them. That wasn't true. There had been experiments but they weren't on the apprentices. 

The conversation went on. Tamara started talking about people who she knows who go/went to the Magisterium who are alive. Call said his mother had died, and that it was the Magisterium's fault. Aaron took a sharp breath in. He knew something had happened, he had thought Sarah was probably dead but the confirmation still shocked him. Another one of his friends dead. Al's alive. What about Declan? Aaron almost asked Call but realized that he shouldn't know about Call's uncle. "she had you, so she didn't die at the Magisterium, right? She must have graduated first." Celia said. 

Call was silent for a moment. "A war. There was a war." Call said. Aaron knew Maugris had to have something to do with this war. How dare he. The more he heard, the more determined he was to find and eliminate Maugris. He wasn't just going to kill him, he was going to make sure Maugris's soul was never reincarnated. He was going to rip Maugris's soul to shreds. 

 

  

I do not own the Magisterium or any of the characters. All rights go to Holly Black and Cassandra Clare.


	9. Chapter 9

Tamara was the first person to respond, "Well that's not very specific, but if it was your mother, it had to be the Third Mage War, The Enemy's War." 

The Enemy, Aaron thought, that had to be Maugris. Someone said something about a mountain. "The Cold Massacre," Gwenda began. Cold Massacre? A shiver ran down Aarons spine. Maugris was in Constantine's body. Whatever Maugris did, the whole world thinks Constantine did it. They think he did it.

"The Enemy of Death. He's. The last of the Makaris and the reason for the Third War." A few students loomed confused so Gwenda explained what a Makar was.

"Being the Enemy of Death doesn't sound that bad, its not like death is so great. I mean who would want to be the Friend of Death?" Call said.

Tamara lopked at Call. She looked annoyed. "It's not like that. The Enemy was a great mage-maybe even the best" -so far that sounded pretty much like Constantine-"but he went crazy" -that would be Maugris-"He wanted to live forever and make the dead walk again. That's why they called him the Enemy of Death, because he tried to conquer death." Aaron was feeling a little sick... Why... No, how. How could Maugris use chaos like that... Like it was a toy.

Tamara went on talking about another Makar. One named Verify Torres who fought the Enemy, even got close to winning. But the Enemy went to a cave where the good mages had hid their families and killed them all. Everyone thought Constantine was a cold blooded killer, an insane phsyco.

"Everybody lives in pony school" he heard Call say.

That made Tamara furious, "What did you say?"

"Nothing"

That set Tamara into a full on lecture. She and Call were both visibly red with anger. I need to stop this, Aaron thought, I can't have my apprentice group fighting.

Celia saved the situation by asking where Call was if his mom was on the mountain.

He had been in the hospital because of his leg he said. Then he muttered something about how his mom should have stayed in the hospital even if the coffee sucked.

Their was another little argument then Tamara ignored Call the rest of the trip.


	10. Chapter 10

The entrance to the Magisterium was almost exactly as Aaron remembered. The forest had changed a little, trees had grown, but the door itself was exactly the same. Master North started giving the same introduction speech. "...Magisterium.. exists here for your own safety... power is dangerous...learn control...each of you has a unique destiny" 

Blah Blah Blah Aaron thought, already heard it. What I need to do is find a way to stop Maugris before anyone else gets hurt. I need to find him. No, I'm getting ahead of myself. If I did find him then what? I can't even use chaos. At least not yet. Will I ever be able to use chaos again? How will I stop Maugris if I can't use chaos? I need to go to the library. There might be books there that could help me.... people were clapping and Aaron realized that Master North was done speaking. Master Rufus gave them instructions to follow their Masters to their rooms, then the doors opened. 

The rooms were pretty much the same as well. How can this place stay the same when the rest of the world changed so much? Master Rufus gave them their wristbands, Aaron wondered where Constantine's wristband was now. His old wristband, he wished he had it. Since he had been a Makar he had special access to a restricted part of the library. It was going to be hard to get in there without his wristband. He could always use one of the Masters wristbands, but how would he get it...

"Those plates are empty." he heard Call say. Aaron looked over to see Rufus getting out a loaf of bread and some bologna. He smiled. He remembered when Master Rufus had done this to his apprentice group. Transforming the bologna sandwich into their favorite foods. 

When Aaron, Tamara, and Call all had their food Call asked if he could talk to his father. Rufus kindly told him that they could contact Alastair after he had time to calm down. Then Master Rufus left. 

They talked a little while they ate and Aaron had that feeling again. Every time he looked at Call he just had that familiar feeling... never mind about that I can figure it out later. What I need to focus on is finding Maugris.


	11. Chapter 11

Aaron woke up half an hour before the bell was supposed to go off. He got up and got dressed. It felt good to be in a Magisterium uniform again, they were actually really comfortable ..Okay. So what I need to do if get my hands on one of the Masters wristbands. I don't like stealing, I'll just call it borrowing. So how will I get one. 

He opened his door to almost run right into Tamara. "So, what are we supposed to do now?" he asked ..Better to play dumb, no one can know that I've been here before.

Bbbrriiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnggg!! Thump.

That was weird. He didn't remember there being a thump before. ..Call. The thump had come from Call's room. Aaron ran to Call's door and threw it open to find Call on the floor. "Ow" Call said.

"It was just the bell," Aaron said, "It means it's time for breakfast." ..No.. why did he say that.. he shouldn't know that yet. He looked over to see if Tamara had caught his mistake but she was too busy looking at something on Calls pillow.

"Did you sleep with your knife" Tamara asked.

Not something I would do but his choice.. "Some people have stuffed animals, other people have knives." Call got up slowly, favoring his bad leg Aaron noticed. By then Tamara was holding the knife. Semirammis. He remembered it was Sarah's knife. She had been so happy when she had finished it. Now she was dead. Because of Maugris. At least some of the people he had known as Constantine were alive. Like Alastair, and Master Rufus. ..Master Rufus.. oh no. Master Rufus hated it when his apprentices were late. "Come on, Tamara. Let Call get dressed." he said pulling her toward the door. 

"I don't have a uniform" Call said.

Aaron heard Tamara tell Call he did while pointing to the uniform laying on his bed before he pulled her out of Call's room and shut the door.

\-----

Aaron sat on the couch in the common room. He heard Call's door open and turned his head to see Call step out. "The three of you are late.." Master Rufus continued with a lecture but Aaron wasn't listening. He was looking at Call. Something wasn't quite right. ..his wristband.. where was his wristband. He looked around to find it sitting on the table they had eaten at last night. 

By then Master Rufus was heading out of the door Tamara and Call following. He went to the table and grabbed Calls wristband following the others out the door. He walked up to Call and handed him his wristband. "Put it on, before Rufus sees. You're supposed to wear them all the time." ..shouldn't have known that either. This is hard. Call didn't seem to notice though so I guess I'm good.

They stepped into the Refectory. It was just like it had been and again he was surprised. How could this place remain the same when the whole world changed. He almost rushed to the food but remembered that the food didn't look like normal food and he, having-definitely-never-been-there before, shouldn't know that the lichen and mushrooms that the Magisterium served where some of the best food in the world. At least he had thought so as Constantine. His tastes were different now that he was Aaron. 

He painted a look of horror on his face, turned to Call and said, "Please tell me that Master Rufus is going to turn this into something else."

Tamara looked at them both and smiled, "You'll see"

Aaron and Call both walked up to the food. Call didn't seem to interested in putting any of the food on his plate so Aaron made sure to put some on when he wasn't looking. Call turned to face Aaron. ..no way he saw me put food on his plate.. "Where's the coffee?" Call asked him.

Aaron told him he couldn't drink coffee because it would stunt his growth to which Call said he drank coffee all the time. "There's that weird tea." Aaron said remembering that it was actually quite good.

A couple of seconds later he hears Tamara say, He could kill someone. He has a huge knife.."

"Tamara!" he said pulling her to the side, "do you really think it's a good idea to go around talking about how it would be possible for Call to commit murder."

"Relax Aaron. I don't think Call is the type of person to go around killing random people for no reason." she said sitting down. After a few minutes Call joined them. By the time Call started eating, Aaron was already half way done with his food. It was just as good as he remembered it. Different but just as good. No, it was even better. 

"So do you have any family here?" Call asked him.

"No." Aaron said, ..not anymore. Although Alastair was kind of like family and you're his son but... "No family anywhere" he said giving a brief explanation about how he heard about the Magisterium. When he finished he realized Call was looking at him. ..did I say something wrong.. does he suspect that I'm lying. ..what if he asks. I could always say that I'm a compulsive liar. .. no I can't do that. I need them to trust me in order to defeat Maugris. 

He didn't ask. They fell into a moment of silence until Master Rufus broke it commenting on how close they seemed to be already. Silence again. Tamara broke it this time, asking if Master Rufus would maybe reconsider his decision to not pick Jasper. This was followed by the second lecture that morning. This time about how no one else will be joining them. 

"Now rise! We go to our first lesson." Master Rufus said. Then Aaron remembered.. ..please.. please have changed your lesson plan... Please don't make us sort sand...

 

I do not own the Magisterium. All rights go to Holly Black and Cassandra Clare.


	12. Chapter 12

The first thing that Aaron saw when he walked into the room was.. sand. ....ooohhh great. This is going to be so fun. Master Rufus told them about the Five Principles of Magic which Aaron had memorized already so he let his mind wander. ...I could make a sleeping potion and drug one of the Masters. While their asleep I could use their wristband. Then I could pass it off as a prank if any one caught me... 

"Can you guess why I've set up the room this way, then?" Master Rufus said. ...to torcher us, bore us to death.. Aaron thought.

"I'm guessing you need help fortifying your sand castle?" Aaron heard Call mutter and he almost burst out laughing. He was definitely going to like Call. Then Rufus told them they were going to sort the sand into two piles, light and dark. 

After he left Aaron said, "I guess we should start."

\------

Sand. Sand was everywhere. In every direction he looked just sand. On Aarons left was a pile of dark sand. On his right a pile of light. 

\------

1/4. They were a quarter of the way done. It helped Aaron to think of the sand in fractions. He had always been good at math, he liked things that could be measured. One quarter was always better than one fifth. He closed his eyes for a second, when he opened them again the piles were gone.

"What-what did you do?" Tamara almost yelled at Call.

"I-I- It just happened." Call said looking scared.

"I'm going to kill you and sort your guts into piles." Tamara said. 

...calm.. just stay calm.. it's just sand...:'( I am going to die... "Okay, we're just going to have to do it all over again." he said

\-----  
The longer Aaron looked at the piles of sand, the more they didn't look like sand. The light pile shifted and changed into a form. Jericho. 

\-----

"There must be a faster way." Call said. "Is there anything you can think of? Anything?"

Tamara was silent for a moment. Aaron knew what she was thinking. No, he thought. He looked at Tamara and shook his head trying to tell her not to do it. "Well," she began.

..great. I can't tell them we can't because then I would have to explain, and I shouldn't know why we shouldn't do this. The only thing I can do is make sure we do it in the safest way possible. And they ate some sand.

\-----

Jericho? It can't be Maugris killed you. Out of the corner of his eye he saw something move. The other pile of sand.. Maugris.

\-----

It had almost been a month of sorting sand. Around lunch time Master Rufus walked in carrying a large wooden box. Oh joy, Aaron thought. 

Hours later Aaron lay on his bed exhausted. At least it was over. Or it had been when he was Constantine. The last day of sand sorting Rufus brought in a gramophone and gummy worms. Hopefully it was the same this time. Aaron fell asleep, and he dreamed.

\-----

He sat there frozen. Maugris looked at him. "What's wrong Aaron?" sand Maugris said. "Did you really think you could escape? You will never be free from me." The pile of sand that was Maugris lunged toward him only to collide with the light sand that made Jericho. Then they were gone. Just a room full of sand.

Aaron woke up, drenched in sweat, with Maugris's voice in his head, "I will destroy every thing you love, and you can't do anything to stop me."


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy 4th of July! I have an announcement. I am going to be going camping starting tomorrow so I wont be able to add any new chapters until somewhere around the 15th of July.

Still shaking from the nightmare, Aaron got up. It was an hour before he normally got up but he knew he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep even if he tried, so he got up and took a shower. By the time he was dressed and ready he could hear Tamara starting to get up too. ...it's been a month since we got here. Today should be one of the tests that the Masters give the whole Iron Year. They always keep what the test is extremely secret. I need to try to not stand out, not draw anymore attention to myself. 

Master Rufus came in a few minutes after Call came out of his room and explained that they were going to be taking a test. 

"Do you know what kind of test it's going to be?" Tamara said. ..yes of course he does, Aaron thought. "Can you give us a hint?" she asked. ...no, he's not going to give us a hint, that would defeat the purpose. 

"That would confer an unfair advantage. You must win on your own merits." Rufus told them. 

"We're not going to win." Call said as if the thought of winning had never even crossed his mind.

Aaron smiled and said, "That's the spirit." Call really did remind him of Alastair sometimes. Alastair had always worried before a test. 

The room Master Rufus took them to was huge and looked like a stadium. ...probably fighting some sort of elemental then... "Iron Year apprentices! I give you your first exercise. You are going to fight elementals." Master North said once everyone was there. 

...yep elementals. most likely wyverns... The lights dimmed just a little and in the darkest corner Aaron saw them. ..yep wyverns.... The first person to take action was Jasper, he ran at the wyverns and threw a small ball of fire at them. ...that wont do anything. In fact it will only make them angry. These are clearly air wyverns, you need to use earth DeWinter, better luck next time... Aaron thought as he watched Jasper floating up to the ceiling having been affected by the wyverns fog breath.

..I know how to beat them but I can't draw attention to myself, so I might as well have a little fun... Aaron looked at Call next to him. "Here goes nothing." he said and ran at one of the wyverns grabbing onto it. ...Lets see how long I can hold on. 1...2...3...4...5...5.4. 5.4 seconds he thought as he flew through the air. He felt a cold solid shape grab him out of the air, that was fun, he thought.

 

When they got back to their room, having won of course, there was pizza waiting for them. It was the best pizza he had ever had. Master Rufus had gotten it from a pizza place in a town near the Magisterium, just a little way to the east. It was a family run place, passed down for five generations. As Aaron ate with Tamara and Call he couldn't help but think, what would it be like if I just didn't go after Maugris? I can't kill him without chaos anyway. He stole my life from me once why should I let him steal this life too? No one knows I am Constantine, what if I just pretended I wasn't? What if I just became Aaron? ..you can never be free from me...I will destroy everything you love.. No, I can't do that. I was given this chance for a reason. It is my destiny to stop Maugris.


	14. Chapter 14

Aaron got up. He had been sitting in bed trying to think of a way to get his hands on one of the Masters wristbands but couldn't think of a good easy way. Finally he decided to go to the library to see if the restricted section was even where he remembered it being. True the Magisterium was surprisingly similar to how it had been when he was Constantine, but he should probably just make sure. Maybe he could even find a way in without a wristband. 

He made his way to the door and quietly opened it. He had just barely stepped out when he heard Call's door start to open. He shut his door just enough so there was a crack and peeked out. He saw Call dressed in black, ..looks like I'm not the only one sneaking around.. 

Aaron slowly, quietly, followed Call. ..My plan had been to go to the library, but, you know what they say, curiosity killed the cat. 

Call took a boat, he floated down the river until he was at Master Rufus's office. It had been hard for Aaron to follow him without making any noise but Aaron had done it. Call was in Master Rufus's office now, fortunately he had left the door cracked. Aaron crouched down next to the door and peeked inside. "Alastair Hunt" Call said, holding small glass object with what looked like a miniature tornado inside it. The tornado changed and turned into Alastair. 

"Call?" Alastair said. ...cool. it's some sort of communication device. Definitely didn't have those when he was Constantine. I've got to get one. I wonder how it works... "Where are you? Does anyone know you're speaking to me?" ...oh.. I probably shouldn't be eves dropping, he's just talking to his dad. Ok, off to the library.

Aaron stood up and headed down the hallway, he thought for a moment about whether or not he should go back and help Call find his way back. No, he decided, Call will be fine. I'm sure he'll find a way back. We are in the same apprentice group I need to have some faith in him. I would never consider whether or not Alastair could find his way, I have faith in my friends, and Call is my friend. 

He had taken this path a thousand times as Constantine. He knew the best way to get anywhere in the Magisterium. At least that was what he thought until he ran straight into a dead end. ...that's weird, they must have blocked this path off for some reason. Well at least I know the Magisterium does change..

He ran into a couple more changes, more blocked off paths, some new ones, but he finally stood before the familiar archway with the phrase 'thoughts are free and subject to no rule' carved into the arch above the door. He stepped through the entrance and started making his way up. The library was one of Aarons favorite rooms. He wasn't a fan of reading, he just liked how the library looked and smelled, he liked how the library always seemed to be the perfect temperature and if you wanted to know something there would undoubtedly be a book somewhere here that could answer your question.

The library was a sort of spiral, like a huge spiral stair case except it didn't have steps. The restricted section was at the very top. The entrance was a little below the middle. As he was walking a book caught his eye, sitting on a table as if someone had forgotten they had it there was a book. It was titled 'The Enemy of Death' ...I have heard bits and pieces of what happened but this book could explain everything... He grabbed the book and put it in his bag. 

"Sshhhh!! Be quiet. If we are too loud one of the Masters might catch us." someone said from farther down. Aaron went over to the side of the spiral and looked down. It was Jasper. Jasper and Celia. ...what are those two doing out of bed. Never mind, it doesn't really matter I guess..

Aaron moved on, he could still hear Jasper and Celia from the top of the library. ..At least if one of the Masters does happen to be near here they will catch Jasper and Celia not me.

The restricted section was the same as he remembered it. A metal door with charms on it to keep it from being opened by anyone who shouldn't be in there. The charms would take at least 6 hours to break and that didn't include the factor of running out of energy which would most definitely happen. The door was clearly not an option unless he had a wristband. 

"Call? You were spying on me! Did you follow me here?" he heard Jasper yell. He went over to the railing again and looked down. ..Well I guess Call found his way back, guess I was right to put some faith in him... Jasper and Call's conversation was starting to get a little heated. ...Should I interfere, no, I should let Call do this on his own. Maybe eventually he and Jasper will learn to get along. But they need to settle their differences first, and that is something I can't do for them. 

Aaron made his way back to his room. He had been laying in bed for a few minutes reading the book about The Enemy of Death when he heard the common room door open and close, then Call's door. He read for a little longer but got so disgusted by what Maugris had done that he couldn't bring himself to continue reading. He didn't remember when but he eventually fell asleep.


	15. Chapter 15

Time has passed and my apprentices have grown closer. They have learned much about magic, gone through so many exercises, practiced so much, Maybe I'll go easy on them today, I'm sure Aaron, Tamara and Callum would enjoy a little fun...

\------

It was cold, Aaron didn't like the cold. He used to, when he was Constantine. He had a theory about that. ...it could just be a difference from being in a different body, like with the taste. But I don't think so. Even though I'm not in Constantine's body, I think my soul is somehow still connected to it. My left wrist sometimes hurts, like it is being stabbed, I always thought it was weird, the doctor said nothing was wrong. However, the book I found about the Enemy of Death had a page in it that listed all the known injuries that happened to the Enemy during the war. Once, the Enemy had been taken by surprise and had been cornered. A knife had at one point been thrown, the Enemy tried to block but the knife was moving to fast, aided by air magic, it hit him, it went straight through his left wrist. The same spot. I did a little more digging and there were other injuries to him in places that occasionally hurt me, though most of them tended to feel more like an itch. My dislike of the cold must be a result of the Cold Massacre ...

"Aaron!" Tamara shouted as a snowball hit him directly in his face. "Are you paying attention? You didn't even try to block that one!" She added as another snowball hit Tamara on her shoulder.

"If both of you don't pay attention I might just end up winning!" Call said as he through a snowball which Aaron blocked using air magic. Their lesson today was to throw snowballs at each other and to use air magic to block snowballs from hitting them. The more times you got hit, the more points you got. Whoever had the least amount of points at the end of the lesson won. ...Master Rufus is going easy on us today. I wonder what the occasion.. ohh.. how could I forget that.. today is Master Rufus's birthday. ...

Then Aaron got an idea..

Master Rufus sat a few yards away, keeping track of their points. Aaron looked back at where Tamara and Call were only to notice that Call was looking at Rufus too. Must have seen Aaron looking at him. A smile spread across Call's face as he turned to face Aaron and Aaron knew Call understood. They both looked at Tamara to see the same mischievous look in her eyes. 

\--------

My lesson plan didn't go exactly as planned today. My mischievous apprentices decided it would be a great idea to bring me into the equation. One second they were throwing snowballs at each other, doing a fairly decent job blocking, the next they were working together to throw snowballs at me. In the end we all ended up throwing snowballs at each other. It has been a long time since I have had that much fun. They remind me of Constantine's apprentice group before... before Jericho died. before I failed to protect my apprentice's. It wont happen again. I will protect them, I wont fail them this time.

\-------

Today was fun. We lost count of who won but it doesn't really matter anyway. I hope Master Rufus enjoyed it. He looked happy, for that short amount of time he looked like his old self, like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He deserves to be happy. Out of everyone in the Magisterium I think 'Constantine's' decent into evil would have affected him the most. He wasn't just my Master, he was a friend, no, more than that, he was a part of my family. He was like a father to me. Is like a father to me. Maybe I should tell him, he would listen I'm sure he would. He would understand.


	16. Chapter 16

Aaron stood before a creature, it was a mass of molten rock, glowing red hot. "I see through the masks of skin you wear, I see your future. One of you will fail. One of you will die. And one of you is already dead." 

\--------

Today started out the same as any other normal day at the Magisterium. Aaron got dressed, ate breakfast with Call and Tamara in the refectory, and headed of to class. However, when he got to class he was surprised to notice that the class room wasn't set up for anything. ...A day outside? Most likely not. They had been outside a few days ago on Master Rufus's birthday and he had heard that there was a pretty bad snow storm going on right now. So what are we doing? Could it be that Master Rufus is going to let us explore the caves? When he was Constantine his apprentice group had taken longer before Rufus let them do that. When he was Constantine. He looked over at Master Rufus. Every time he saw Rufus he couldn't help but want to tell him everything. He wanted Master Rufus to tell him that what Maugris had done wasn't his fault. That there was nothing he could have done to stop Maugris. He wanted Master Rufus to comfort him with those strong yet gentle hands. But every time he thought he had the guts to tell him, he couldn't help but imagine Master Rufus looking at him in disapproval. Hatred. Confusion. I'm a coward. I should tell him, he deserves to know but I just can't tell him, because I'm a coward.

"Ideally, you will follow my instruction, find the room you are meant to find, and return without getting lost" Master Rufus said, snapping Aaron out of his thoughts.

"Sounds like fun" Tamara said sounding excited with a hint of mischief in her tone of voice.

"Together" Rufus said having to tell Tamara that no she couldn't leave Aaron and Call behind and no Call you cannot make a bet to see who finishes first. "Did either of you hear me?" he said.

"Together" Aaron said, "I'll make sure we stick by each other." ..Sarah and I were always the most responsible in Constantine's apprentice group. Together we always made sure the others didn't get hurt. I wont let Tamara or Call get hurt. I will protect them to the end, for you Sarah...

Master Rufus drew a map out of his pocket and handed it to Aaron. "Here is you map. Follow it closely to reach the Butterfly Pool..." Whoa, Aaron thought as he looked at the map, quite a few things have changed. "...take turns carrying the water. If you drop it, then you'll have to return for more." 

"When do we start?" Aaron asked already knowing that the answer would be right now. He walked over to a rock and spread the map out. He scowled at the map, this part of the Magisterium was a extremely different than it had been all those years ago. He would have to memorize the map later but for now, "Okay, We head down and east"

Call suggested that they go past the Library, Tamara pointed out that the map was upside down, Call said the Library was still the right direction. "Let's go, before you two get out compasses and start measuring distances with string." Aaron said as he picked the map up and headed to the Library.

As they walked through the Library, Aaron thought again of his plan to stop Maugris. ...The connection between my soul and Constantine's body is something that I might be able to use to my advantage. I might be able to find out where he is using this connection....

They walked for a while, following the map until they entered the room with the Butterfly Pool in it. The stone was worn from where mages had walked but other than that the room looked pretty much the same. Well now all we have to do is go back to Rufus, Aaron looked at the map, and I will study you later. "Now we just need to find our way-" and the map burst into flames. ...Nnooo! my map, rats, should have known it wouldn't be that easy. "I guess that's what Master Rufus meant. We're supposed to follow our lighted stones in order to get back. That map was only good for the way here."

Then they made another discovery, they had only lit two stones. They had no idea how to get back. They wandered around for a while. ...Lost! I can't believe I let us get lost. If only I could remember what the map looked like.... Aaron tried to remember but the bits and pieces wouldn't fit together. ...If only I had tried harder to memorize the map while I had it...

About ten minutes later he got into an argument with Tamara about which direction they should go, Call got dragged into it, and in the end they all agreed that they were all at fault for getting lost. So they continued walking.

\---------

About another ten minutes later they walked into a room that Aaron did remember. The Hall of Graduates. Call started looking for his parents handprints on the walls. It was something every graduate did, they would put their handprint on the wall, a part of them that would always be there. Suddenly Aaron felt sad, Jericho's handprint would never be here, at least he had the chance to put his here as Aaron. Then he remembered, I was reincarnated, I know not everyone remembers who they were, but Jericho might still get to put his handprint on the wall. Maybe in a previous life he already put a handprint up there. But I'll never know.

They stayed there for a few more minutes before Aaron realized that the entrance that he had used as Constantine wasn't there. ...Great, just great. I know exactly where I am but I still have no idea how to get back. Well not no idea. I do know where we are, so I have a general idea of what direction we need to go...

"Call! Always lost, Call. You should stay in your room. It's warm in there." An elemental said dropping from the ceiling. Call explained that he had meet this elemental before and convinced the elemental to show them a way out. And that is how it happened. They followed the elemental who lead them straight to Marcus. The devoured who used to be Master Rufus's Master. Aaron wasn't afraid, he had met Marcus before and all Marcus cared about was his stupid prophecies that always came true. It occurred to Aaron that maybe Marcus still tells people prophecies because deep down he still cares, but his ego wont let him admit that.

"Enough" came Master Rufus's voice from an entrance a few yards away. 

"I mean no harm." Marcus said stepping back. Aaron almost felt sorry for the devoured. It's not like he chose to become devoured. 

Once Marcus was out of sight Rufus said, "Come along" and they left. Master Rufus answered a few questions about Marcus and Aaron knew it was painful for him. After that, they headed to the Refectory for dinner.


	17. Chapter 17

At dinner, everyone noticed how weird Aaron, Tamara and Call were acting. Call ended up telling everyone about the prophecy which Aaron didn't appreciate. It's unlikely but with enough pieces of evidence someone might end up figuring out his secret. Tamara suddenly stood up and excused herself from the table, stood up, and walked out of the refectory. Aaron and Call simultaneously got up and headed after her but as they exited the room Drew, a student from Master Lemuel's apprentice group, caught up with them and asked Call if they could talk for a second. So Aaron ended up sitting on the couch in their common room, comforting Tamara who was crying on his shoulder.

"I always thought the devoured were just like any other elemental. Why did Marcus have to be so different from what I expected." She said losing all of her composure. Aaron put a hand on her head in a comforting gesture. 

"It's okay." he said. "It doesn't really matter that much." it was true that he could be charming most of the time, but there are moments when he thinks about too many things at once and ends up not being able to think at all. Aaron couldn't stop thinking about what Marcus had said. Of course he knew. He knew Aaron's secret. That Aaron was Constantine, 'already dead', but isn't everybody. With reincarnation... but what if not everyone is reincarnated. What if he was a rare anomaly. Or what if it's only considered 'already dead' if you remember your past life... He was getting a headache.

"Doesn't really matter! It DOES matter! My SISTER is devoured!" Tamara yelled. She stood up, walking to her room and slammed the door shut behind her. ...well that did not go well...

Aaron closed his eyes for what felt like a couple seconds to try to make his head stop hurting but he must have fell asleep. Aaron woke up on the couch about an hour later. He got up thankful that at least for know his headache was gone. ...There are too many things. I can't do this on my own. I have to trust Master Rufus.

\---------

Aaron stood outside Master Rufus's office. He could tell Master Rufus was in there because he could hear the occasional flip of a page, he briefly wondered what book Rufus was reading. Then decided it didn't really matter anyway. He raised his arm to knock on the door and realized that he was shaking. ...I can do this, it will be just like all those years ago when I told Master Rufus anything that was bothering me... and with that, he knocked on the door.

"Come in." he heard Master Rufus say from inside. Last chance to run, he thought but he was already stepping through the door. "Aaron. Come, please sit." Rufus said. He obeyed and sat down in the chair across from Master Rufus. "What can I do for you?" Rufus said, looking at him with those trusting, concerned brown eyes.

"I..I... I was just wondering..." ...what would you do if you knew...I can tell him...He'll understand.... 

"You can tell me anything Aaron. You know that right?" Rufus said.

"I was wondering, about what Marcus said earlier." Aaron saw pain in Rufus's eyes at the mention of his Master but it was quickly covered by a small fake smile. 

"Marcus is crazy. What ever he told you, you can forget about it." Rufus said. ...I'm such a coward.. just say it already..stop making it harder than it needs to be...

"I'm Constantine." he said. Silence. Rufus looked at him like he was talking in a different language. Aaron tried again, "I have the soul of Constantine Madden."

\---------

Aaron Stewart sat in the chair across from me. "I have the soul of Constantine Madden." he said. I looked at him. I don't understand. Why is Aaron trying to prank me like this? It isn't funny. I look into his eyes but there is no trace of this being a lie... it's almost like he's telling the truth. No, no he can't be. That doesn't make any sense.

"Before you jump to any conclusions, let me explain, please." Aaron said. I just keep looking at him. "I know this is going to be hard to hear, and even harder to believe, but please just listen." Aaron paused. "The day Jericho died, Constantine, I, died as well. There was another Makar, his name is Maugris. He's been around for thousands of years, moving his soul from Makar to Makar. Joseph helped him get into the Magisterium. He killed Jericho then stole my body. Everything that 'Constantine' did after that was actually Maugris. I understand that it will be hard for you to believe me, but I'm asking you for help. I have to prevent Maugris from stealing another body and I can't do it alone. I need you, Master."

What he's saying makes me dizzy. Maugris? Constantine... I look him in the eyes again, searching for anything, he's telling the truth. Constantine was a good liar. No, he wasn't. Constantine was only good at lying after Jericho died. So, not Constantine? I need time to think. "Go to your room, we'll discuss this more later."

\---------

"Go to your room, we'll discuss this more later." Master Rufus said after what seemed like an eternity. ...What? He's just going to send me to my room. Is this some sort of test?...  
"I said go to your room Aaron." ...Aaron? I just told him I'm Constantine...He doesn't believe me. He must think I'm joking, playing some sort of cruel trick....

"Master, I don't think you understand, I'm..." 

"Enough!" Master Rufus yelled. ... "I need time to think. Go to your room." 

\---------

Aaron sat on his bed. ....What have I done? He's going to tell. There going to come and lock me up. Am I ready to go to jail? If I left right now could I get away? Could I find Maugris and stop him? Unlikely without being able to use chaos and I haven't been able to get into the restricted section to find a way to access my chaos. What if I can't? What if there is no way? What if I'm not even a Makar any more... by now Aaron had gotten dressed into his pajamas. ...Might as well be taken to jail in something comfortable... 

He sat there thinking, feeling hopeless, he had failed. ..No, that wasn't right. Marcus's prophecy. Those who actually listen find that he is almost never wrong. One of us will fail, one will die, and one is already dead. I'm the already dead aren't I? So I can't be the one that fails. Right?... 

He was broken out of that thought by his door slamming open. And there, standing in his doorway was Master Rufus. "Get up and get out here." Rufus said, before moving out of sight. This is it, Aaron thought as he walked toward his door. He could hear other Masters in the common room, but to his surprise, when he stepped out he was lead over to the couch where Tamara was already sitting, Call was brought out a few minutes later. 

The three of them sat on the couch in the common room and to Aaron's surprise, the conversation had nothing to do with him. Drew had run away from the Magisterium. The whole school was going to help look for him. 

The Iron Years were put in a group, an older student named Alex was there leader. After a few minutes of walking, Aaron started drifting back to his worried thoughts, he needed a distraction. He looked around thinking he could start up a conversation with Tamara or Call, only to see that the two of them were already having a conversation. A very mysterious conversation filled with hushed voices that made Aaron curious. Then he remembered that Tamara was angry at him for what happened earlier. It didn't take long for him to decide he would rather face her anger than face his own problems. 

"What are you guys talking about?" he asked, after making his way over to them.

Silence. Aaron almost thought that they weren't going to tell him but finally Call said, "We're talking about this" Call pulled a wristband out of his pocket and handed it to Aaron. The second Aaron touched it he knew what it was. It was Constantine's wristband. His wristband. It has access to the restricted section! But before Aaron could say anything Call took the wristband back and put it on his arm under his sleeve. 

They talked about the wristband for a few minutes and even asked Alex a few questions when all of a sudden there was a scream. ..Drew...

Before Aaron could react Call ran in the direction that the scream came from. Aaron was about to follow but his head started pounding. Somethings wrong with me, he thought. His vision was starting to swim. ...No, stay conscious...

Aaron was suddenly aware that Tamara was standing over him. His vision slowly focused but his head was still pounding. "Chaos-ridden" one of the students said. Aaron looked to see a wolf pack coming at them. He also realized that Call and Alex(who was carrying Drew) were coming back from the direction they had ran off to.

After that everything happened fast. They regrouped and within minutes the wolves were upon them. Everything started to blur. ...What is wrong with me?... Aaron realized that the wolves were about to attack two people who had stepped out of formation. It took him a few seconds to realize that those people were Call and Tamara. ..No..

He stepped in front of them and by reflex shot his hands out. There was a stabbing pain in his head now, despite the cold night he was hot, and before he could realize what he was doing, chaos shot from his hands, it surrounded the wolves, and just like that, they were gone. He fell to his knees, the pain in his head was fading, as if it had never been there. 

...I can use chaos, yes... Aaron put his head in his hands so that no one would see him smiling. I have to act like a normal person. Let's try shock and denial...

"Makar" Tamara said

"I'm not, I can't be. I don't know anything about chaos." ...I think that was pretty convincing.

"Aaron, child." he heard Rufus say, standing over him. ..Wait, when had the Masters got here. Oh, no. I told Master Rufus. Now he'll definitely not trust me...

"I didn't mean to- The wolf was there, and then it wasn't" he said.

"You've done nothing wrong." Rufus continued talking out loud but was talking to Aaron mentally, '''I believe you. I always wondered how Constantine, well you, could have changed into such a monster, we can talk later about stopping Maugris.'''

And with that, he was taken back to the Magisterium to listen to Masters tell him how important he was and how he has to be careful because chaos is dangerous.


	18. Chapter 18

I stood in front of my brother. I knew I would die.  _Run_ , I think to my brother. I think of how lonely he would be without me. He has he friends, they will always be there for him. Alastair, Sarah, Declan, even Master Rufus, take care of Constantine when I'm gone.  _But I want to live._ Then I remember, Constantine and I found out that I could draw on his soul similarly to how he draws on mine. If I could draw on Maugris's soul, use his power against him. I try but energy flows through me, too much.

* * *

The next thing I know I'm kneeling over myself. I'm crying, running my hand through my bodies hair. "Nooo!" I cry. Then I realize. I'm not the one doing it. 

"Constantine, Jericho is gone." I hear Master Rufus say.   _Constantine?  Constantine must have pulled my soul into his body without realizing it._

_Constantine! It's okay! I'm here, I'm alive!_

**_Jericho?_ **

_Yes! Constantine.._

_**No! Impossible, how are you alive?** _

_You're not Constantine._

**_How did you survive? How did you get into my head?_ **

_Maugris. No._

* * *

 

The Enemy stood in a tent. He was getting ready for today's battle. His armor lay on the table in front of him, some of the best armor in the world. Almost nothing could pierce it, yet it allowed him to move freely. 

_You don't have to do this._

**_How many times are you going to tell me that before you give up Jericho?_ **

_I found out where your memories are but I don't seem to be able to access them._

**_Good. Less of my life decisions for you to complain about._ **

_Why are you so heartless?_

**_I wasn't always heartless._ **

_You make that extremely difficult to believe._

**_After living long enough you realize that you have to be heartless. Because if you aren't, everything you love will leave you again and again. Love isn't worth it._ **

_Maybe it's your life that isn't worth it._

**_I hate you._ **

_Then why don't you just get rid of me._

**_You know the answer to that. I tried. The only other thing I can think of is soul surgery. But I can't safely perform soul surgery on myself, and there is no way on earth I'm going to let someone else do it._ **

* * *

 

The Enemy rode on a great chaos elemental. Every where he went, his opponents would fall, one after the other. In a desperate attempt, an air mage set off an air bomb. The force sent the Enemy falling to the ground. He stood up quickly and killed a few more opponents. The battle field was a ruined city. It must have looked amazing in it's time, but now the buildings were crumbling and covered in ivy. He walked over to the closest building and entered it. He was almost to the exit of the building when out of the shadows stepped someone he knew.  Declan Novak. He had been a friend of Constantine's. 

The Enemy made the first move, a high strike with the blade he held in his left hand. When Declan blocked it he left his leg vulnerable to the second hidden knife that the Enemy had. The knife went deep and Declan let out a startled scream, but Declan is a fighter. He doesn't give up very easily. Declan lunged at him and they both fell out into what must have once been an alleyway. The Enemy backed up about a yard. Declan was about to make another attack but the Enemy drew on the earth causing the buildings wall to fall on Declan pinning him down.

"Any last words Declan?" the Enemy said.

"None for a monster like you." Declan said.

_Don't do it! You can't kill him._

**_You want me to let him live? Make me._ **

The Enemy walked over to Declan and put his knife against his throat. "Goodbye then" and the Enemy stood up and left, leaving Declan to struggle under the weight of the crumbling rock wall.

_**What are you doing?** _

_For once, what you told me too._

**_Impossible, you can't be in control._ **

The Enemy stood completely still. Then he headed North, back to his camp

* * *

The Enemy stood in a tent. This time there was five other people in the room. They stood around a table where a map lay with pins marking where all known troops are.

"Does anyone have an idea for a battle strategy?" the Enemy asked.

"I have an idea." Joseph said.

"What is it?" the Enemy said.

"This mountain," Joseph said, pointing to a mountain, "our spy has told us that the mages are going to send all of their injured, old, young, sick, etc. to that mountain. I suggest that we send some troops to attack the mountain. While that happens we will go to this field and fight the Assembly's troops, we can use the Alkahest to kill Verity Torres and win the war."

_No! You can't do that!_

"I like your idea Joseph, however, I have one change, I will lead the troops on the mountain while you will take the Alkahest and kill Verity. Any comments?"

_It's a terrible idea. Don't do it. Those people didn't do anything. Their innocent._

"Good. You're excused."

"Yes Master" they said in unison and all but Joseph left.

"Why did you do that?" Joseph asked the Enemy.

_**"**_ I don't think it's a good idea for me to go to a battle field right now. As long as Jericho is able to take control I can't risk it. On the mountain I can send the chaos-ridden in first that way there aren't many people left for me to deal with." the Enemy said

"Are you sure you're alright?" Joseph said.

"sure enough." the Enemy said.

* * *

The chaos-ridden hadn't been as efficient as the Enemy had hoped. As he killed people, he could feel Jericho desperately trying to take control. Eventually he stood face to face with Sarah Novak, well Sarah Hunt now, another one of Constantine's friends.

"I knew you were a monster Constantine, but even I didn't think you'd do something this vile." she said.

"Guess it's a good thing I'm not Constantine." he told her.

She lunged at him and at that exact moment Jericho did something, he hesitated just enough that Sarah's blade, Semirammis, was able to make a deep cut across his chest. Why had he chosen not to wear his armor today? She came back for another attack but he side stepped and tripped her. He drew on the ice, impaling her. People always forget about how their surroundings can be used against them.

_Monster. What have you done?_

**_Eliminated a_** _**liability.**_ He was about to say something else but his vision swam. the cut on his chest. He looked around. Sarah he realized was still alive and looking at him. "Guess I got you. We can die together know."

"No, I'm not dying." He tried to get up but he couldn't.

_**Let me go you stupid child. If we stay here, we both die.** _

_Good, then we can die together._

A cry broke out and caught the Enemy's attention. Sarah looked up at him, "No, don't you dare."

_If you even try to move your soul.._

**_I'm not going to. That was clearly the cry of an infant. If I move my soul into him, I would be helpless. I would probably freeze before someone got here. No I just need to get out of here, which means you need to die. I didn't want to risk it but you leave me no choice. I'm doing soul surgery._ **

_No_

There was a searing pain, bright white light. Jericho hurt everywhere, he couldn't see anything. His soul hurt. but then he felt something pulling him. Like when Constantine used to use him as a counterweight. All of a sudden he was surrounded by warmth. The warmth drove away all his pain, his mind felt blissfully empty, possibly because it was. 

The Enemy sank the rest of the way to the ground. His remaining three chaos-ridden took his unconscious body and headed back to the camp.

* * *

Alastair ran through the cave looking for anyone who was still alive, but mostly looking for his wife and son. He found Sarah first, lying dead at the back of the cave. A cry lead him to his son, Callum. Callum's leg was broken and Alastair didn't have the strength to fix it. He went back to Sarah, and that is where he saw it, three words that would shake his world.  **Kill the Child.**  

And as he looked at his son, he realized his sons eyes were the same color as Constantine Madden's.


	19. Chapter 19

Aaron woke to Master Rufus gently shaking him. "Hhmmm." he mumbled, not quite ready to put effort into getting up. After the run in with the wolves last night, the Masters had lectured him on his importance and how he was destined to defeat the Enemy of Death. Then he and Master Rufus had talked a little, explained the details. Aaron had told Rufus about the connection he seemed to have to his previous body. Told Rufus about how most of his memories had returned, about his plan to stop Maugris. ****  
** **

His plan wasn't very detailed yet. He could use chaos now so getting into the restricted section wasn't as necessary, still, now that Master Rufus was working with him it would be easy to get into the restricted section. ****  
** **

"It's time to get up Constantine." Master Rufus said. ** **  
****

This caught Aaron's attention, "You probably should continue to call me Aaron. Even when it is just the two of us." he said sitting up. ****  
** **

"Right. Okay, Aaron, it's time to get up." Rufus said. ** **  
****

After Master Rufus had left, Aaron got dressed. The Masters had made him sleep in a different room that night which he found odd. It wasn't like his actual room was that far. There was a breakfast on a table closer to the door, actual food, like not lichen. Toast with butter and jam, Sausages and bacon, scrambled eggs, and orange juice.   ...They didn't do anything this grand when I became a Makar as Constantine.... ****  
** **

When Aaron was done eating, Master North came in and took him to a circular auditorium where Aaron was surprised to see many Assembly members, in fact, the whole Assembly was there. Each member wanted to shake his hand, many of them told him how happy they were that he was here, a few told him again how important he was. He smiled shaking their hands firmly, first impressions are really important. He recognized a few of the members, Tamara's parents who he had seen at the Iron Trial, Master Graves who had apparently worked his way up to the head of the Assembly, and a few others. ****  
** **

After meeting the Assembly members he was taken to sit next to the Masters. He sat next to Master North as other students started to trickle into the auditorium, slowly filling the seats. After ten minutes Master Rufus walked up to the stage and started giving a speech. ****  
** **

Aaron had to admit, Master Rufus was good at pretending he didn't know Aaron's secret. His whole speech was about how Constantine Madden is not to be trusted, kind of ironic. ****  
** **

"I am happy to announce that we have discovered the existence of a Makar, here at the Magisterium. Aaron Stewart, will you please rise?" Rufus said. ** **  
****

That was Aaron's cue, he stood and stayed standing for a few minutes. He was about to sit back down but Master North whispered to him that he should remain standing. An assembly member came over to him and lead him up to the stage.  ...This is not what happened last time, the assembly must have been more desperate than I thought to be putting on a show like this... ****  
** **

The Assembly member made a smaller speech to congratulate Aaron and remind him that it is his responsibility to stop the Enemy, and how he wont have to do it alone. The speech ended with the assembly member placing the black onyx stone in Aaron's wristband. ****  
** **

Aaron thought he would be free to go after the ceremony but the Assembly had other plans. They too had to talk to Aaron about how important he was. The only part he found interesting was the information they shared with him about the Enemy. Apparently they had observed patterns in where the chaos-ridden travel and there were a few places that had quite a lot of activity. Aaron would have to keep those places in mind when he needed to find where Maugris was. ****  
** **

* * *

 

After the ceremony Call and Tamara walked to their common room. Call was trying to think of a way to get Tamara to leave so he could deal with Havoc, a chaos-ridden wolf puppy he had snuck into the Magisterium last night. Fortunately for Call, he didn't have to think of anything. When he and Tamara got to their common room door, Jasper was there and convinced Tamara to help him study.

****

**Well that's a relief. Okay, let's get you outside Havoc**

_ I'm warning you this is a bad idea Call. It's Chaos-Ridden. _

**But Jericho. Look at it.**

****

Call tucked Havoc into his jacket, Havoc started giving him puppy eyes.

****

_ You should know that the only reason I'm agreeing is because maybe we can use him to find Maugris. You're at least going to tell Aaron and Tamara right? At least tell Aaron promise? _

**I make no promises.**

_ Call, Aaron is the Makar. He deserves to know. _

**Fine. I'll tell Aaron later..maybe**

****

When Call was done walking Havoc, and Havoc had some breakfast, Call and Havoc started playing tug of war with a blanket.

****

**What do you think about Aaron being a Makar anyway? We should be his counterweight!**

_ Aaron will be extremely important to beating Maugris. However, Maugris was injured during the Cold Massacre remember. He might be looking for another body. _

**He's not stealing Aaron's body. We won't let him.**

_ As for being his counterweight, I think that would be a good idea. The closer we are to him, the better we can protect him. _

****

The common room door opened and Call thought for a second that Tamara was back. Then he heard a Thump! as something hit a wall. Call peeked out of his room and saw Aaron sitting on the couch. He looked tired. ****  
** **

* * *

 

When Aaron got back to the common room that he shared with Tamara and Call, he was exhausted. He sat on the couch and threw one of his boots at the wall. "Um, are you okay?" he heard a voice behind him say. ****  
** **

  "I didn't think either of you were here." Aaron said.  ** **  
****

"So, you must be really excited about all this.. chaos magic stuff." Call said. ** **  
****

  Aaron almost said yes but realized he probably shouldn't. How would a normal person act? "Sure," he said sarcastically, "I'm thrilled." ****  
** **

"Do you want me to leave you alone so you can throw your other boot?" Call asked. ** **  
****

  "I just don't know if I want to be a Makar." Aaron said.  ....doubt and uncertainty are always a perfectly normal reaction.... ** **  
****

"Why not?" Call said. ** **  
****

  Aaron couldn't think of a reason seeing how he  **did** want to be a Makar. So he told Call he didn't want to die like Verity Torres had. ****  
** **

"You're not going to die" Call said, and the confidence that he said it with was odd. ** **  
****

....Call doesn't know the truth though, he doesn't know that the Enemy of Death can steal bodies. Will Maugris come for me now? It's highly likely. He was injured during the Cold Massacre. I wont let him steal my body. Not this time....

  "You don't know that" Aaron said realizing he hadn't responded to Call. ****  
** **

"I wont let the Enemy kill you Aaron. Aaron would you let me be your counterweight?" Call said. ** **  
****

  For a moment all Aaron could think about was Jericho. The moment Jericho had thrown himself between him and Maugris. Maugris had killed Jericho. "You could  _ die _ ." ****  
** **

"How about our goal is not to die? Both of us. Together. Not dying." Call said. Aaron was silent. He stayed silent for a long time. Why did Call remind him so much of Jericho? Even his eyes were the same as Constantine and Jericho's had been. ** **  
****

  "Okay." Aaron said quietly. "If you still want to. When it's time, I mean." and Aaron made himself a promise. He would not let Maugris kill Call. He wouldn't let another friend die.


	20. Chapter 20

Tamara had just spent an hour helping Jasper, with Aaron being a Makar she guessed that Jasper was going to spend extra time learning magic so he could stay caught up on their level.   *not like he'll ever be as powerful as Aaron anyway*

When she opened the door to the common room, she saw Aaron was back. She smiled and ran over to him tackling him with a hug. "Did you see Master Rufus's face? He's so proud of you! And the whole Assembly came out, even my parents. All of them cheering. For you! That was amazing!" she said.

  "It was pretty amazing." Aaron said, and a smile crept onto his face.

"Don't go getting a swelled head" she said, grabbing a pillow and hitting him with it.

  "No chance of that around here." Aaron said looking at Call.

Tamara was about to say something else when something started barking. 

* * *

 

Call was about to say something when Havoc started barking from inside his room.

 

_well I guess you'll have to tell them about the wolf now_

**No. Jericho I can't. Remember what Tamara said on the bus ride here. She said she wanted to learn how to identify chaos-ridden so she could kill them. And last night Aaron killed Havoc's parents.**

 

"Call," Aaron began, "is that coming from your room?"

"Uh, maybe?" Call started,  **think Call think,** "It's my... ringtone?" he said but it came out as more of a question than a statement.

Tamara frowned at him, "Phones don't work down here, Callum. And you already said you don't have one."

 

_just tell them already Call. There is no use in trying to keep it a secret._

**No....**

 

"Do you have a dog in there?" Aaron asked at the same time something in Calls room crashed and the sound of nails on stone increased in volume.

Tamara, because of course she would be the one to do it, walked over and opened Call's door. The second it was all the way open, Tamara screamed stepping to the side.

* * *

Aaron was curious about what type of dog it was. How did Call even bring a dog to the Magisterium? But when Tamara opened the door, she screamed, and when Aaron saw what came out of Call's room, he knew why. It was a Chaos-ridden wolf puppy.

"I can explain," Call said quickly getting in between Aaron & Tamara and the wolf. "He's not bad! He's just like a regular dog!"

Tamara started lecturing Call on why he shouldn't have a chaos-ridden wolf puppy, but Aaron was watching it. The little wolf didn't seem that dangerous. Aaron knew how Call must have felt. After Aaron killed the wolves last night, this one must have been the only survivor. It probably would have died by itself. Then again, even as Constantine he had always had a soft spot for animals.

Tamara started walking toward the wolf with a knife, "Tamara wait," Aaron said, "Admit it- it is weird that it's not attacking Call."

"He's just a baby, and scared" Call said, picking the wolf up and rocking it like a baby, "see. look at his big eyes."

Tamara and Call discussed how they could get kicked out of the Magisterium for having it, but in the end they obviously decided to keep it. "Okay, so what's his name?" Aaron asked Call.

"Havoc." Call answered.

They talked about Havoc for a few minutes before Tamara seemed to remember something. "We need to talk about the wristband." she said and Aaron remembered that Call had Constantine's wristband. And now Tamara and Call must know that it belonged to Constantine.

Once they had established that yes, it was definitely Constantine's wristband they continued trying to figure out what the message meant.

"Well, it was about you," Tamara began, " _Bind his magic_. Right?"

Call looked at her nodding, "So they'd send me home. So I'd be safe." Call said.

"Maybe," Tamara said and Aaron knew there was going to be an or, and that he wouldn't like it. "Or maybe it was about keeping other people safe  _from_ you."

Aaron was confused and his heart started beating faster. "Tamara, you'd better explain what you mean."

Tamara explained that since Havoc was chaos-ridden, and was being nice to Call, maybe Call was a type of chaos-ridden. Celia had mentioned a type of chaos-ridden that have normal eyes, that don't even know they are chaos-ridden. The idea sent shivers down Aarons spine.   ...It's okay. Call's not chaos-ridden. I could always check. I could look at his soul and see....  

Aaron didn't know what a chaos-ridden soul looked like, so he looked at Havoc's first. The Chaos was wrapped around Havoc's soul almost like a blanket. Only a small piece of the soul was actually showing. Admittedly, Aaron was a little afraid to look at Call's soul but he did. 

"Call isn't one of the chaos-ridden." he told Tamara. "Or I would know. I'm one of the Makaris, so I should know right? He's not. He's just not."

"Okay, then what am I?" Call asked, but Aaron couldn't answer. He didn't know. Call's soul wasn't chaos-ridden, but it wasn't normal either. A normal soul is like a sphere, with some sort of golden string like thing wrapped around it, almost like a present. But Call's was different. It was like two souls had been cut in half and one-half of each soul was glued together. The golden strings from each half-soul were tangled holding the two pieces together. ...Perhaps it's some rare anomaly... 


	21. Chapter 21

For the next few weeks Aaron spent most of his training time in 'special makar training'. By 'special makar training' he meant spending time talking, planning, and playing chess(winning obviously) with Master Rufus. He never realized how much he missed hanging out with Master Rufus.

* * *

A long time ago, before Maugris stole Constantine's body and 'killed' Jericho.

* * *

 Constantine sat at a table in a small diner. On his left was Jericho, on the other side of the table sat Declan, Sarah, and Alastair. There was music playing from jukebox in the corner of the room. At a table near them a couple of dating teenagers, probably around 17-18 years old, sat making out. 

"Hey Alastair, when are you and Sarah going to start kissing like that." Constantine said knowing it would make Alastair blush.

  "Sarah and I.." Alastair began but before he could finish Sarah leaned over and kissed him. Constantine was pretty sure it would be impossible for Alastair to turn any redder.

"Make sure to invite me to your wedding." Constantine added smiling.

The waitress came over to their table and sat six shakes of various flavors down in front of them. They came to this diner a lot, so the waitress knew their order by heart. The diner was located in a town a few miles from the Magisterium. Constantine heard the door bell ring faintly over the sound of the music and smiled. A few seconds later the chair on his right slid out and Master Rufus sat down next to him. 

"You five do remember that there is a curfew right." Master Rufus said taking a sip of his shake.

  "So as long as we're back before the curfew, we can sneak out of the Magisterium?" Jericho said jokingly.

"You do remember that this is the 7th time you've caught us right?" Constantine said. "You know you aren't actually going to stop us, you enjoy coming here as much as we do."

  Declan reached into his pocket and brought out a pack of Uno. "So who's ready to lose to me." Declan said grinning.

"That's what you said last time and Alastair won." Sarah teased.

* * *

"Aaron!" Master Rufus said.

  "What?" Aaron said.

"You spaced out there. You okay?" Rufus asked.

   "Yes. I just. I was thinking about the diner we used to go to." he said.

"That was a long time ago." They sat in silence before Rufus added "I haven't gone there since Jericho died."

  "Maybe we could go sometime, bring Tamara and Call. I'm sure Call would love the chance to have some coffee." Aaron said smiling.

* * *

It was Saturday and Call had just gotten back from walking Havoc. When he entered the common room he saw Master Rufus standing there with Aaron. 

 

**He knows. He must have seen me with Havoc. He's going to take Havoc away.**

_You don't know that Call. There could be many reasons why he is here on a Saturday._

 

Tamara came out of her room and Rufus said, "Good you're all here. I have a special treat for you come on."

"Don't we get breakfast first." Call said but Master Rufus just left, Aaron following behind him.

Rufus led them outside where four elementals were waiting. Rufus explained that they were going to ride the elementals to a town and eat at a special place.

 

_I know where he's taking us Call!_

**You do.**

_Yes don't worry. You're going to love it. My apprentice group snuck out of the Magisterium a lot to go there._

 

Call cautiously approached the elemental before realizing that Aaron was already on his. Aaron noticed Call looking at him. "It's not that hard Call. It's just like riding a horse.. except it's in the air."

Once they were all on an elemental, the ride began. The elementals could have gone faster, but for their first ride, they were taking it slow. The elementals landed in a small clearing, Call could see the steeple of a church through the snow covered trees as a bell rang out announcing that it was 9 o'clock. They walked into town footsteps echoing off the cobblestone sidewalks. 

* * *

Aaron and Master Rufus both paused when they entered the building. Aaron always found it strange when he walked into a place and realized that it was almost exactly as he remembered it. The tables were in the same spots, the lights were the same dim orange/yellow color. Music started playing and Aaron looked over to see Tamara and Call looking at the songs, laughing at some of the titles. Aaron remembered that the titles were just the most random things that didn't make sense. 

Master Rufus headed toward the table and sat down where he always had. Aaron sat beside him in Constantine's seat. Tamara sat across from Aaron where Sarah had always sat. For a moment Aaron thought Call was going to sit where Jericho had, but he moved to the other side of the table and sat next to Tamara, across from Master Rufus, where his father, Alastair had sat.

The waitress came to the table. She was the same person, she recognized Master Rufus. Aaron suspected she must have seen Call's resemblance to Alastair. She handed them menus and asked what the wanted to drink. "COFFEE!!!" Call yelled so sudden that Aaron swears the waitress must have almost had a heart attack. "I'll take a coffee please." Call said again quieter this time.

They all seemed to be in a pancake mood. "Great minds think alike." Aaron said as they all ordered pancakes. 

After they were done eating Rufus pulled a pack of Uno out of his pocket. "Anyone want to play?" he asked.

They played, game after game until Master Rufus put a wild +4 card down and said. "Sorry Constantine but that was the only card I could play." 

Aaron almost didn't notice the slip up until he realized Tamara and Call were looking at each other weird. "Um..." Aaron began.

Rufus looked at him and realized what he had said. "Oh.. I mean Aaron. Sorry." Rufus looked at Tamara and Call. "Constantine was my apprentice when he went to the Magisterium. He always sat in the chair Aaron is sitting in."  There was silence.

"If Constantine sat there, who sat where I am sitting?" Tamara asked clearly thinking about how she could be sitting in a dead person's chair. Her face had a 'like what if they come and haunt me for the rest of my life' look.

"Sarah sat there." Rufus said, "Sarah Novak, Call's mom. And Call you're sitting in the chair your father always sat in."

Tamara sat there staring at Master Rufus, "Okay." she finally said very quietly. 

* * *

"Well that was pretty nice, other than the part where Master Rufus accidently called you Constantine." Tamara said later when they were sitting in the common room. Call was still sipping the coffee he got to go.

"He probably just got lost in the moment." Aaron said. "I mean Constantine was normal at one point. The Enemy of Death is just crazy."

And that was when Call realized something. Aaron never referred to Constantine as the Enemy of Death. He acted like they were two different people. Like he knew the truth...


	22. Chapter 22

Aaron was in his 'special makar training' with Rufus one day when an older student named Alex Strike entered the room. "What is it Alex?" Master Rufus said.

   "Master Milagros wanted me to inform you that Callum is in the infirmary. He sprained his ankle doing something Master Milagros told him not to." Alex informed them and left.

Aaron and Master Rufus looked at each other for a second before simultaneously standing up and heading toward the infirmary. When they arrived at the infirmary they found Call sleeping on one of the beds, Master Amaranth was finishing wrapping up Call's leg. Aaron was about to sit down on a chair next to Call but he realized that Master Amaranth was looking at him. Aaron excused himself remembering that she didn't like students to linger in the infirmary when they didn't need to. 

 

A few hours later Aaron was walking in the hallway with Tamara. Havoc was with them but Aaron wasn't too worried, they had made the excuse of bringing Call some food and everyone else was still in the Refectory eating. When they arrived at the infirmary to check on Call, Tamara sat a plate of food on the table beside Call's bed. "Call" Tamara whispered in Call's ear, "Call wake up"

Call didn't appear to be awake so Aaron said, "Maybe we should come back. I mean-doesn't sleep help healing or something?"

   "Yeah but it doesn't help us." Tamara said as she started shaking Call's shoulder.

"hhmm.." Call said opening his eyes. When Call saw Aaron and Tamara he sat up. 

   "Good to see you're awake." Aaron said. "Well I'd better walk Havoc before people start to leave the refectory" Aaron said walking to the door carrying Havoc.

When Aaron was outside he put Havoc down. Havoc immediately bolted over to a tree, pulled Aaron's makeshift leash out of his hand. Aaron ran forward trying to grab the leash but Havoc decided he wanted to play. Havoc grabbed the leash with his teeth and ran just out of Aaron's reach, wagging his tail. Aaron grabbed a stick and threw it into the forest, Havoc bolted after it. 

A few moments passed and Aaron started worrying that maybe Havoc wasn't coming back...    "Hey Aaron." a voice said behind him.

  Aaron quickly turned around to see Drew standing next to the Mission Gate. "Oh hey Drew, what are you doing out here." Aaron said trying to act normal.

"Looking for you actually." Drew said.

  "Oh, well what is it?" Aaron said going to stand by Drew, desperately hoping Havoc wouldn't suddenly show up. Before he could think twice Drew grabbed a rock and hit him. Aaron blacked out before he could even hit the ground.

* * *

When Aaron woke up, he briefly thought he was blindfolded, but after a few minutes his vision started coming back into focus. The next thing he couldn't figure out was why everything was upside down. After a few minutes everything came back to him, he had been kidnapped by Drew and was now in a room hanging from the ceiling and was getting really lightheaded from being upside down. He was sure his face must be about as red as a strawberry,  ...stupid gravity...

After about 5 more minutes Drew came back into the room with Master Joseph. "Aaron Stewart," Joseph began, "so nice to finally meet you." Aaron saw red, here in front of him was one of the only people in the world who he could, with all honesty say he hated. Joseph must have seen the hate in his eyes because he stepped closer and said, "don't worry, this will all be over soon." and with that he walked away leaving Aaron hanging upside down next to Drew. 

....He's going to bring Maugris here. Maugris is going to steal my body again. I have to do something, come on Aaron think....

"Drew, you don't have to do this, let me go..." Aaron began.

  "Of course I don't have to. But I am." Drew interrupted, "In fact, how about we have a little fun." Drew pushed a glass cage under Aaron and Aaron saw, to his horror that there was a chaos elemental in it. "You know what's in the container don't you?" Drew asked him.   ...He's not going to kill me, Maugris will want to use my body so they wont hurt me too badly.....   

"Drew, " Aaron tried again, "please let me go."

"What, can't get yourself free, Makar?" Aaron was about to say something when he saw movement through a crack in the door, two people peeking in,  ...Tamara and Call.

* * *

"I'll distract Drew" Call whispered to Tamara. 

  "What, No! It's to dangerous." Tamara began.

"Freeing Aaron wont work if Drew sees you freeing him. It's the only way." Call said.

  Tamara could tell there was no other option so she agreed and snuck into the room.

 

_Call, once you get Aaron down, we need to get out of here right away. Maugris must not be here yet but Joseph will have sent for him. He could arrive at any minute._

**No duh, I think I was gonna stick around. Maybe have a tea party.**

_It's okay Call. I know you're just nervous. It will be okay. Now go get Aaron._

 

Call burst into the room, "Hey Drew, This sure doesn't look like pony school to me." he said. 

  "Call," Drew said surprised, "what are you doing here?"

"Seriously? What am  _I_ doing here? How about what are you doing here? You're going to get caught you know."

   "Haven't gotten caught yet."

"I just caught you." Call said.

   "Oh. I'm sooo scared." Drew said, his voice laced with sarcasm.

"Good. You should be." Call said.

  Drew ignored Call's last statement and said, "I'm actually glad you're here, now you can watch me hurt Aaron." Drew turned back only to see that Tamara had freed Aaron. "NNoo" Drew screamed. He turned and glared at Call.

"If looks could kill" Call said, "Well, we're just going to go now.." Call said backing up."

  "Aaron's not going anywhere." Drew said. Drew darted toward the glass cage with the elemental but before he could do anything Aaron darted forward and punched him in the face. Call heard a crunch and knew Drew's nose was definitely broken.

  "We need to go. Now." Aaron said already heading out the door.

"Glad we're on the same page." Call said looking away from Drew's unconscious body. And with that they ran.

* * *

Aaron turned a corner. "No Aaron this way!" Tamara said, heading back in what Aaron assumed was the way she and Call had gotten in. When they were outside they heard a commotion, yelling voices. "GO FIND THEM!" Aaron heard Joseph yell. The three of them, and Havoc, kept running, well Call was technically limping but he was doing a fairly good job.

An elemental landed in a clearing in front of them and a man dressed in black got off the elemental. They ducked down behind a fallen tree. "Get out here Makar. If you surrender now, we'll let your friends go." Aaron didn't recognize the man but the way he said things so nervously made Aaron think he hadn't done anything like this before. Also he was definitely lying, they would kill Tamara and Call in the blink of an eye.

They could hear more footsteps now, "We need to get out of here." Call said.

"Agreed." Tamara and Aaron both said.

"Run on the count of three." Aaron said. "One. Two. Three!" They took off. The nervous man didn't wait, he pulled something out of his jacket. It glinted in the moon light.

"Get down!" Call yelled, tackling Aaron. 

BANG. BANG. BANG. Gunshots rang through the forest until another follower of the Enemy told the nervous man to stop. "Master Joseph wants the Makar alive and as uninjured as possible." the second man said. Aaron knew this was their chance. He pulled Call up, Tamara was already on her feet and they ran. Aaron practically dragged Call but he had no time to worry about Call's leg.

After 8 minutes of running Tamara ran right into Master Rufus. The three of them stopped, a few other Master's were there as well. Aaron saw Master Milagros, Master Amaranth, Master North, and a few others. He leaned over to catch his breath but before he could tell the Master's what happened, Call collapsed to the ground unconscious. In the dim light Aaron could see a stain in Call's uniform. The longer he looked at Call the more he noticed. Call wasn't breathing, Master Amaranth knelt over Call starting CPR. 

But all Aaron could think was   ..no. Call can't die. Call you idiot, why did you push me out of the way?....  Master Amaranth stopped. "What are stopping for?" Aaron yelled, panic clear in his voice.

"He's dead Aaron. There's nothing I can do."


	23. Chapter 23

Master Rufus looked at the scene unfolding before him, his head started spinning. "No." he said not realizing that he had shouted.

  Master Amaranth looked up at him, "I can't do anything..." she started but Master Rufus wasn't paying attention he pushed her to the side and continued CPR on Call.    **Come on Call**  

He was starting to get desperate when Master Amaranth said "CLEAR" Master Rufus almost didn't pull his hands away before Master Amaranth shocked Call's lifeless body with electricity. They kept at it until Call's heart started, Call's eyes opened, he choked trying to get air into his lungs. Master Rufus let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding, it's going to be alright, he thought, I wont let you die Callum.

* * *

 

When Call could finally breathe again, he looked around. Everything was moving so fast. At one point he saw Master Rufus over him, Master Amaranth was there too. He felt something cold where he had been shot. 

 

_Call!_

**Jericho?**

_Call, finally. would you stop struggling. They're just trying to help you!_   _You need to let them freeze the wound or your going to lose too much blood before they can get us to the Magisterium._

 

Call stopped struggling. He hadn't even realized he was struggling.

 

**Jericho I think I'm going to die.**

_No you're not just stay awake. You can't die Call, we need to stop Maugris._

 

Call briefly remembered Master Rufus picking him up and carrying him.

 

**Jericho, we should tell Rufus. That way when we die he will know at least.**

_Call, I told you, you're not going to die. Also, you're delirious he probably wont even understand what you're trying to tell him and if he does he'll think it's just nonsense._

 

"Master" Call whispered.

  "Shh. It's Okay Call. We are almost to the Magisterium. Just hold on." Master Rufus told him.

"Jericho is alive in my head and Constantine was killed by an evil overlord who stole his body" Call whispered quiet enough that only Master Rufus could hear. By then they were at the infirmary so before Rufus could say anything Call was taken away.

* * *

 

Aaron sat in Master Rufus's office. He had just finished telling a group of Masters what had happened. How Drew was working with the Enemy, how they escaped, how Call had been shot. He couldn't stop thinking about Call. He had almost lost another counterweight. He had been given a second chance and was still to weak to protect the people he cared about.

Master Rufus came in and sat down in his chair. "Aaron, what happened. Tell me everything." Rufus said, so Aaron told Master Rufus the pretty much the same thing he had told the other Masters, just in more detail.

When Aaron had finished Master Rufus sat back in his chair. "Master is something wrong?"

 Master Rufus looked up at Aaron, "Just something Call said."

"What did he say." Aaron asked getting exponentially more nervous every second that passed.

 "So he didn't tell you yet?" Master Rufus said.

"I don't know if he told me because I don't know what it is he told you." Aaron said getting a little impatient.

  "He said that Jericho is alive in his head and told me about Maugris killing you and stealing your original body." Master Rufus finally told Aaron.

For a few minutes Aaron just sat there. "Jericho is alive?" he said quietly.

  "It would appear so." Master Rufus said. 


	24. Chapter 24

Aaron sat in a chair next to Master Rufus in the Infirmary. How could Jericho be alive? Did Master Rufus hear Call incorrectly? Maybe he misunderstood Call? "You look deep in thought." Master Rufus said next to him.

"Are you sure you heard him correctly?" Aaron said.

"Yes I'm sure." Master Rufus said.

Aaron was about to say something else when Tamara walked into the Infirmary with Havoc, Aaron had convinced the Masters to let them keep the wolf. "It's time to walk Havoc" she said to Aaron. They had agreed that from now on, no one would walk Havoc alone. Safety in numbers.

* * *

 

Tamara stood next to Aaron. Ever since they had gotten back Aaron had hardly left Call's side. She was concerned for Call yes, it had been two days and he still hadn't woken up, but Aaron needed to relax a little. Staying at Call's side all the time couldn't be good for him. "So what are you thinking about?" she asked him.

Aaron looked at her and for a minute she thought maybe he hadn't heard what she said but then he said, "I was thinking about the prophecy actually. One of us will fail, one will die and one is already dead. We could consider Call to have just died, I mean his heart did stop."

"So maybe already dead could mean the same thing, has your heart ever stopped?" She asked.

"Well, know that I think about it, I might have had a near death experience once before. I think I'm the 'already dead', and Call is the 'will die', which means you must be the 'will fail'. The only question is fail at what?"

* * *

 

It had been five days since Call had been shot. Aaron was getting worried, what if he never wakes up? Tamara told him he should do something other than sitting next to Call 24/7 so here he was, being forced by Jasper of all people to take a bubble bath. Aaron didn't know how Tamara had convinced Jasper to do this. Jasper took some sort of weird soap out of a bag and added some to the water and wow that was a lot of bubbles but this isn't really necessary. The only way Aaron could describe the scene that followed was by comparing it to trying to give a cat a bath.

In the end, Jasper sat next to the door soaked as Aaron sat it the bubble filled pool asking if he could leave yet.

When Jasper had fixed his hair, changed into dry clothes, and finally had enough he told Aaron he could go. They started walking down the hallway when Tamara came running around a corner so fast that she ran right into Jasper knocking him into the river. So much for fixing his hair. Jasper was going to say something but before he had the chance Tamara yelled "HE'S AWAKE!" and grabbed Aarons arms pulling him down the hallway.

* * *

 

Call had just finished talking to his dad with Master Rufus's tornado phone(with permission this time) when Tamara and Aaron barged into the Infirmary. When they saw him sitting up drinking tea they both smiled in unison, running to sit on his bed.

They talked for a while until it became clear that Aaron wanted to say something but wasn't.

"Well I know I've slept for the past five days, but I could really use a nap." Call said.

  "Okay, we'll let you rest. I should go apologize to Jasper for pushing him into the river anyway." Tamara said standing up.

"Wait. What about Jasper?" Call said. 

   "I'll tell you when you wake up from your nap. That should be plenty of incentive to not go into another coma."

"Fine." Call said as Tamara headed toward the door.

   "So." Aaron said.

"Soo..." Call said back.

   "Is it true that Jericho is alive inside your head?" Aaron asked.

"Wait.. Master Rufus told you?" Call said.

  "Yes he told me. I'm the Makar. Don't worry he didn't tell anyone else." Aaron told him.

"Well, yes it's true..." Call started.

   "But how? That's not possible. Maugris killed Jericho." Aaron said.

Call was silent. 

 

_Call._

**Yes.**

_You told Master Rufus 'Constantine was killed by an evil overlord'_

**Yes.**

_Aaron shouldn't know his name was Maugris._

**Are you saying what I think you're saying.**

_We must have gotten there too late. Maugris and Joseph are the only ones who know. Maugris must have already moved his soul into Aaron._

 

Call looked at Aaron. "I- I really did mean what I said about being tired. Maybe we could talk later."

 "Ohh.. Sure. Okay." Aaron said standing up, but before he could react Call grabbed a syringe and injected Aaron with whatever was in the syringe. Aaron fell to the ground his vision going blurry. Call tried to stand up but his legs wouldn't hold him and he fell next to Aaron. 

 

_We have to kill him Call._

**I'm trying but I don't have my knife.**

 

 

Call did the only this he could think of. He started punching Aaron's hansom face. Then Master Rufus was behind him pulling him off of Aaron, or trying. "No!. Master, we have to kill him. He knew Maugris's name. I didn't tell you that. The only way he could know is if Maugris already moved his soul into Aaron. Aaron is Maugris we have to kill him."

"Stop it Callum." Master Rufus said finally pulling Call off Aaron's unconscious body. "He's not Maugris. He's Constantine!" Rufus said. setting Call back of his bed.

  "No. that's not possible Constantine is dead. Maugris killed him." Call said confused.

"Maugris killed Jericho too but apparently he is in your head." Rufus said finally getting Call to calm down.

From the floor moaning could be heard as Aaron grabbed his most likely broken, bleeding nose. Master Rufus guided Aaron to a chair.

"What in the world Call!" Aaron said.

  "Sorry, Jericho and I thought you were Maugris for a minute."

 

_Let me talk to him I want to make sure he really is Connie._

 

"Jericho wants to talk to you." Call said.

  "Okay." Aaron said smiling.

* * *

 

Jericho grilled Aaron for at least half an hour. Asking him questions he was sure only Constantine could get right. On top of that, he asked the questions in French, knowing Maugris was terrible at pronouncing French words correctly while Connie could speak it flawlessly.

When Jericho was satisfied he said, "It really is you."

"Course it is." Aaron said. "But I have a question for you."

  "Well I guess since I asked you so many questions, that would only be fair." Jericho said.

"How are you alive, and how are you inside Call?" Aaron asked.

  "Well, when Maugris tried to kill me I sort of attached myself to him. I don't know exactly how it worked but I ended up in your body with him after he killed you. Then during the Cold Massacre he tried to get rid of me and I ended up in Call."

"Wow." Aaron said, "That must have been awful." 

  "It wasn't all bad. There were a couple pretty funny moments."

"Ohh. Give me an example." Aaron said.

"Well....

* * *

 

The Enemy of Death stood in a light green kitchen inserting bread into a toaster. While the bread was toasting, he went to the refrigerator to get some Jam. He couldn't find one. This made him smile, it meant he got to open a new one. He always loved opening a new jar because it meant he got to ruin the perfectly smooth flawless surface of fruity goo.

 

_You are so weird._

**_Oh come on Jericho. Don't act like it's not fun._ **

_Whatever._

 

The Enemy opened the pantry and to his delight his favorite flavor, raspberry was there. He grabbed the jar and went back to the kitchen. The toaster dinged and the toast popped up. He took the toast and put the butter on, but when he went to open the Jam, it wouldn't open. He tried to open it as hard as he could.

 

_Oh. What's this, the powerful Enemy of Death can't even open a jar of Jam._

**_Shut_ ** _**Up!**_

 

The Enemy desperately tried to open the jar but became frustrated. He yelled at the jar. Now his toast was cold and still Jamless. In anger he through the jar as hard as he could at the wall. The jar smashed, red jam covering the wall. One of the Enemy's foreign non-English speaking followers stood in the doorway having heard the commotion. "I'll go vacuum the wall now" the follower said as the Enemy walked out of the room.

 

_The Enemy VS Jam Jar. Jam Jar wins._

**_SHUT UP!_ **


	25. Chapter 25

"So..." Call started, he had been officially released from the Infirmary as long as he promised to take it easy. Now he sat next to Aaron in their common room, "should we tell Tamara or should we keep it a secret? I feel like we should probably tell her, but maybe we also shouldn't." Call said.

  "Lets not tell her. For now at least." Aaron said but Call could tell he wasn't really listening.

"What are you thinking about?" Call said.

  "Can I have Jericho?" Aaron said.

"What?" Call said confused.

  "I want him in my head. Can I please have him?"

Call stared at Aaron, "I know he's brother but it doesn't really work that way, I can't just give him to you. He's not a tangible object." Aaron looked at Call again but it was different this time. "Don't you dare try to steal him," Aaron opened his mouth to say something, "No, I know you were looking at my soul just then. No. Stealing. Jericho. Got it."

 "Fine." Aaron said. "Does Alastair know?"

"Not exactly." Call said.

  "You should tell him when you go back home for the summer."

"Okay. Hey, you could come tell him with me. You could stay.." Call began.

  "I can't." Aaron said.

"Why not!" Call said.

  "I may or may not have plans to stay with Tamara." Aaron said.

"No way! You're staying with Tamara. When were you going to tell me that." Call said shocked.

  "I was hoping I wouldn't have too."

"Fine. I'll tell my father, .. if.." Call said looking over at Aaron.

  "If... if what?" Aaron said

"If you tell Tamara."

  "I can't do that!" Aaron said.

"She deserves to know, especially if you're staying with her. What do you think will happen if she finds out without you telling her." Call pointed out.

   "Very well." Aaron gave in. "So, if I can't have Jericho, would you at least let him have control later so we can go star gazing?"

"Sure." 

* * *

 

Jericho always felt bad when he was in control of Call, it's Call's body he should be the one in control shouldn't he? Jericho was on his way to a hidden clearing in the woods. He remembered the last time he and Constantine were there. The time he had told Constantine that they needed to stop experimenting. Aaron, or well Constantine, was walking next to him. They had Havoc too, just in case any one saw them, they needed to have an excuse for sneaking out of the Magisterium so late.

The trees surrounding the clearing had gotten taller, the ivy didn't have any white flowers on it yet, too early in the spring. The moon was full, lighting up the clearing, shining in the eyes of the two boys.

"Constantine?" Jericho said.

  "Yes." Constantine replied.

"About what you said to Call earlier.."

  "What about it?"

"You do realize that you really can't have me in your head right? You don't know what that would do to Call."

  Constantine was quiet. He remembered how Call's soul looked like two halves. The soul was a sphere, take away half and maybe the other half will die.. "Sorry I wasn't thinking earlier."

"I'm right here though Con, if you ever need to talk I'm right here."

  Constantine looked over at Jericho, "What if Maugris kill's you again."

"I didn't die last time remember?"

   "You know what I'm talking about."

"Alright Constantine, I know you, he may have bested you last time but you're the type of person who doesn't go down easily. Besides, we have the advantage, we know he's coming. He doesn't know that we know about his plans."

   "You're right Jericho, so we can make a plan together. It will take both of us to stop him."

Jericho was about to add that they had Rufus too and would soon have Alastair but there was a rustling in the forest.

* * *

Jasper had seen Call and Aaron sneak out of the Magisterium. They had Havoc with them but were acting really suspicious, so he followed them. He had only gotten more curious when they seemed to know exactly where they were going,  _Maybe they've done this before_ , turned out they went to a clearing, it was a beautiful clearing Jasper had to admit. 

They talked for a while but Jasper couldn't quite hear what they were saying. Then Call turned to Aaron and Jasper was able to make out part of what he said. ..Call called Aaron Constantine...  Jasper couldn't believe it.. no he must have misunderstood, maybe they were talking about Constantine.  He was about to try to move closer when he realized he was sitting in a patch of poison ivy. He quickly scrambled away as if that could change the fact that he had been touching the poison ivy for ten minutes. 

But when he looked back to the clearing, they were gone, no, they must have heard me....

Out of nowhere someone tackled Jasper knocking both of them right into the poison ivy. "Jasper?" Aaron said in surprise. "How much did you hear?"

"Why did Call call you Constantine." Jasper said with the confidence that most people wouldn't when facing someone they ignorantly think might be an evil overlord.

  "Ha. Guess you'll have to explain," Call(Jericho) said, "but you should probably get out of the poison ivy first..."

 


	26. Chapter 26

Jasper stood outside Master Rufus's office waiting. He couldn't decide whether or not Aaron and Call were telling the truth, or was it Constantine and Jericho, but wait Call and Jericho were both in Call's body or something like that. It was kind of confusing. He heard footsteps coming and straightened up fixing his hair.

* * *

 

When Master Rufus got to his office, he did not expect to see Jasper DeWinter yet there he was. Jasper opened his mouth but Master Rufus interrupted him before he could speak, "No I will not reconsider taking you on as an apprentice Mr. DeWinter, now run along before you're late for breakfast."

   "That's not even what I was going to say!" Jasper said defensively, "..this time..." he added.

"Oh, well what is it." Master Rufus said.

   Jasper looked around to make sure no one was around then whispered, "Is Aaron really Constantine, but not the Enemy of Death because last night..." Jasper didn't have time to finish before Master Rufus pulled him into his office.

"How did you find out?" Master Rufus asked.

  "He told me." Jasper said.

"Why would he tell you? .. No offence." Rufus said.

  "I kind of caught him and Jericho star gazing. Also how is Call also Jericho. They weren't very good at explaining so they told me to ask you." Jasper said.

Master Rufus looked at Jasper. "Have a seat." he finally said, pointing to a chair.

* * *

 

Aaron and Call sat next to each other in the Refectory. Not right next to each other though, people were sure to stay at least a foot away from Aaron because he had poison ivy. "Would you stop itching it." Tamara said.

  "I'm sorry, it just itches." Aaron said.

"Has anyone seen Jasper?" Celia cut in looking worried.

  Call and Aaron exchanged a glance, "Nope." Call said.

"Call." Tamara said, "What did you do?"

   "It wasn't me!" Call said.

"Well what happened?" Celia asked.

  Call blushed and was probably about to say something stupid but Aaron saved him by saying, "He was walking Havoc with me last night when I got poison ivy."

"I'm fine." Jasper said walking up to them. He looked at Aaron and Call before sitting down next to Celia.

  "How do you not have poison ivy?" Aaron said.

"I went to Master Amaranth and she gave me some weird lotion that made it go away. Here I got some for you too." Jasper said looking pleased that he thought of something Aaron hadn't.

   "Jasper, I was looking for you." Celia said. "I was compiling a list of everyone's phone numbers so we can stay in touch over the summer." 

"Well, if you're asking for my number, I suppose I could give it to you." Jasper said, his ego clearly showing.

* * *

 

Cars were pulling up, parents picking their kids up. Call, Aaron and Tamara were standing together waiting. Alastair's silver 1937 Rolls-Royce Phantom pulled up and Aaron told Call, "Don't forget to tell him."

  "You don't forget to tell Tamara." Call said.

"Don't forget to tell me what?" Tamara asked.

   Call smiled and walked away toward his dad's car. 

"What was that about?" Tamara asked.

   Aaron sighed, "We have to talk." Aaron looked around, to his relief he saw who he was looking for, "Hey Jasper!" he yelled and proceeded to force Jasper to explain the whole thing.

* * *

 

Call and Alastair sat at the table in their kitchen. Call had to admit, it was good to be home. "Dad, we have to talk."


	27. Chapter 27

Alastair sat across from his son, he had just brought Call back from the Magisterium. He was thinking about how he could prevent Call from going back in the fall when Call spoke up. "Dad we have to talk." 

"I agree." Alastair said, "You don't have to go back to the Magisterium next fall. You know what you need to..."

   "That's not what I was referring to dad." Call said "I know you think I have Constantine's soul but Constantine wasn't even the Enemy of death. I have half of my soul and half of Jericho's and it's really complicated so before you try to kill me you should listen to me, or ask Master Rufus."

* * *

 

Call woke up in his bed. He remembered his father had used magic to knock him out. He wasn't tied up though so that was a good sign. He stood up and walked over to his door(which Alastair had left open) Noises were coming from the living room, two people talking maybe? As he stepped into the living room he noticed that his dad was sitting on the couch talking to Master Rufus.

"Good you're awake Call." Master Rufus looked relieved.

  Call sat in a chair across from his dad, "So, you know now I assume."

"Yes." Alastair said. Call was about to say something else when Alastair interrupted him, "So what's the plan to stop Maugris?"

   Call looked at his dad. "Well, the problem is that if Aaron or well Constantine gets to close to Maugris, Maugris will steal his body again. So I was thinking, we go stop him without Constantine."

  "But Maugris is a Makar." Master Rufus said, "he can use chaos."

"I know, but if we are able to mount some sort of sneak attack, maybe we can succeed." Call said.

  "How would we find him?" Alastair asked.

"Constantine told me about a sort of connection between his old body and his soul. I happen to know about where Maugris might be." Call said. "Who's ready for a trip to Maine?"

* * *

 

Aaron had just finished doing a trick at one of the Rajavi's parties. He decided now would be the perfect moment to sneak off. No one would notice he was missing for quite a while. He had almost sneaked off through a secret gate Tamara had shown him when a shadow passed over him. "Where do you think you're going" Jasper said, Tamara right behind him.

  "I lost Jericho once. I don't want to drag him into this again. I'm going to find Maugris and kill him." Aaron said, "And you can't stop me."

"No, we can't stop you, but we can go with you." Tamara said.

  "Wait a minute." Jasper said.

"You guys can't. I don't want you to get hurt." Aaron pleaded with them trying to get them to stay.

  "Aaron's got a point." Jasper said.

"We're going with you Aaron." Tamara said.

   "Speak for yourself.." Jasper began but Tamara was already pulling him along.

* * *

 

Call, Alastair, and Master Rufus were at a gas station, it had been two days since they had went off to find Maugris. "Okay, I did a thorough analysis of the area on this old map and I found an island in the middle of a river. There's one bridge onto the island and the island has its own little town." Call said showing Alastair and Rufus the map.

  "Sounds like the perfect place for an evil overlord to be." Alastair said.

"The town is probably filled with his followers, we most likely wont be able to get onto the island by going over the bridge. Not without being seen at least." Call said.

"What about that?" Rufus said pointing to an old mine, "There are openings to the mine all over the map. Even one on the island."

  "Chances are Maugris will have thought about that, but I guess it's the best idea we have." Call said, "If we run into anyone, we'll just have to knock them out and tie them up."

* * *

 

Aaron, Tamara, and Jasper were at a diner eating some breakfast. "We're close, I can feel it." Aaron said.

  "Which direction?" Jasper said. Aaron pointed in the direction he felt they needed to go. "I know where he is." Jasper said.

"What? Where?" Tamara said. Jasper put his phone down on the table revealing google maps, "This island, it's the perfect place for him to be. There is only one bridge on and off the island."

   "Well, we'll have to stay away from the bridge, no doubt he'll have someone there guarding the bridge." Tamara said.

"Is there seriously no other way onto the island?" Aaron said.

   "I don't see one." Jasper said.

"Well, I guess we'll have to go under the water. We can walk on the bottom of the river. But then I'll have to rest when we get across. It wont be easy to use magic like that, but at least Maugris wont expect someone to be so risky.


	28. Chapter 28

Call, Alastair and Rufus came to the entrance of the 'abandoned' mine only to find it not as abandoned as they had thought. Turns out, the old mine is used as a supply tunnel. Men in black cloaks, silver face paint decorating their faces. "How are we supposed to get in there." Call whispered.

  Alastair peeked through the bushes, "We need a disguise." They found three men that were away from the view of the other men and knocked them out. They dragged the men farther into the woods, stole their cloaks and tied them up. 

  "Okay, lets go, before someone notices they're gone." Master Rufus said putting on some silver face paint they found in one of the men's pockets. When they got back to the entrance to the mine, they grabbed some supplies and started walking into the mine.

   "Hey, you." One of the Enemy's followers said to Call. Call turned around slowly, keeping his head down. Despite the disguise he felt like this man could see straight through him. "There's dirt on your uniform. Don't let me see such a disgrace again."

   "Yes Sir." Callum said trying to make his voice lower.

"Get moving." the man said and Call walked away as quickly as he could.

    When they were on the island they slipped away from the rest of the people into a small forest. "They was close." Call said.

  "Yes it was." Alastair said, and for the second time that week, Alastair used magic to knock his son out.

* * *

 

Aaron, Tamara and Jasper were walking on the bottom of the riverbed. Aaron was using his magic to create a bubble of air around them. They moved quickly and were across the river in about ten minutes. They took a break to let Aaron regain his energy. This edge of the island was extremely rocky, they moved from rock to rock, making sure no one would be able to see them. Eventually they came to the entrance of a hedge maze. The bushes stood at least ten feet tall. 

  "Come on," Aaron said, "We have to keep moving." They had been walking for ten minutes when the ground started shaking. Parts of the maze sunk into the ground, the maze shifted. When the ground stopped shaking, Tamara and Aaron sat on the ground next to each other. "Where's Jasper?" Aaron said.

  "He must have been moved to a different area." Tamara said. 

  "SH!T" Aaron yelled.

  "We'll just have to keep moving like you said. " Tamara said looking at the sky, from here they could see some sort of tall mansion just barely poking above the top of the maze walls. "Jasper's smart, he can manage by himself."

* * *

 

Jasper stood up and dusted him self off. He looked around but Aaron and Tamara were both gone.  _Great. First I get dragged onto some creepy island, then I get isolated from the only people here who wouldn't automatically kill me_. 

  Jasper kept moving, turning right and left,  _just keep walking_ , until he eventually came to an exit. Not the exit near the mansion, this exit lead to a forest.  _There must be a better way to get there. Maugris would want a quick way to get to and away from his mansion if necessary._ Jasper decided he would try to walk around the maze.

  He had walked for a few minutes when he had to duck into the forest, two people in black cloaks walked past him, he stayed still until he was sure they were gone then continued on his way. 

* * *

 

When Call woke up, he was tied to a tree. Words written out of air said,  **I don't want you to get hurt. Stay here. -love dad**.   Great. His dad had tied him to a tree and left him. He struggled trying to get the ropes off. It was no use, the rope had an enchantment on it. He wouldn't be able to get free.

  "Well, well." said a familiar voice. "Looks like Aaron and Tamara must have been through here. Tell me how to get to the mansion. And don't even think about lying." Jasper said, approaching the disguised Call.

  "Jasper, what do you mean Aaron and Tamara are here?" Call said,  _Aaron shouldn't be here. The whole point of coming here was so he wouldn't have to face Maugris._

"Wait, Call?" Jasper exclaimed surprised, he pulled the black hood off Call's head. "Why are you here?"

   "Just help me get out of these ropes!" Call said. 

When Call was untied he and Jasper decided to continue trying to find a way around the maze.

* * *

 

Alastair and Master Rufus walked along the maze until they found an entrance. "Should we go in?" Alastair asked Rufus.

  "I guess we could," Rufus said eyeing the maze, and they stepped into the maze.


	29. Chapter 29

Aaron and Tamara kept walking until them came to a circular clearing inside the maze. The ground here was stone, symbols were carved into the smooth surface. "After I kill Maugris I might just have to steal his house." Aaron muttered to himself.

  "It is beautiful." Tamara said.

"And easily one of the safest places in the world." Aaron added.

  They were about to turn a corner when they heard voices. Aaron peeked around the corner, "There are too men in black cloaks." Aaron told Tamara.

  "Great." Tamara whispered, "Lets attack them and steal their clothes. We would have a disguise."

"Or," Aaron started, "We could follow them. They must know how to get through the maze.

  They kept following the two men for a while until they came to a dead end, "Maybe the got lost?" Tamara said. Before Aaron could respond the ground started shaking again. "Aaron hold my hand so..." But they didn't have time to reach each other before the maze separated them.

* * *

 

Alastair sat up, he and Master Rufus had come to a dead end and the ground had shaken, now Master Rufus was no where to be seen. He started to stand up but heard something behind him, he used earth magic to make the figure that was about to attack him trip. When he turned around however, he did not expect to see Aaron Stewart quickly standing up to try to attack him again. 

  "Constantine?" He said.

Aaron paused before a light of realization lit his eyes, "Alastair?"

  Alastair rushed over to his friend, "What are you doing here Con?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Al." Aaron said letting Alastair help him to his feet.

  "It was Call's idea, Well actually it was probably Jericho's. But you weren't supposed to be here!"

"Call's here!" Aaron said horrified. "The only reason I came was so he didn't have to get dragged into this!"

  "Don't worry. He's safe. I tied him to a tree on the east side of the island, he should be safe there."

Meanwhile in a different area of the maze.

Tamara hid behind a wall of the maze, one of the men they were following was right around the corner. She was figure out the best way to attack him, she couldn't no for sure, but he appeared to be pretty muscular. The cloaked man must have heard her because he said, "Who's there?" and stepped toward her. She didn't hesitate, she pulled out her pocket knife, jumped on the man and put the knife to his throat. 

  "You're going to tell me how to get through the maze if you want to live, and don't even think about trying anything." She threatened.

"Tamara?" Rufus said, "What are you doing here?"

  Tamara pulled the man's hood off, "Master?"

"Please tell me Aaron isn't here." Rufus said. Tamara was silent. "Oh great, he does realize how much danger he's in here doesn't he?"

   Tamara didn't have time to respond before Alastair and Aaron came around a corner. "Well that's a relief, we didn't get as far separated this time."

"What do mean this time?" Rufus said.

   Tamara spoke up, "We lost Jasper earlier."

* * *

 

Jasper followed Call, they had been walking for at least half an hour, when they came to something Jasper recognized. "Wait, Call." 

  "What?"

"There isn't a way around the maze." Jasper said. "I remember this spot. This is where Aaron, Tamara and I first found the maze."

  "But you said yourself, there has to be an easier way.." Call protested.

"I know what I said!" Jasper yelled.

  "SHSHHHHH!" Call shushed Jasper.

 

_Call._

**_Yes, Jericho?_ **

_Maybe the maze just a distraction. Maybe the house in the center isn't really where Maugris lives._

**_But where else would he live?_ **

_There is a town on this island. It would be pretty hard to get into the town with so many of his followers there._

 

"Earth to Call!" Jasper said.

   "The town!" Call said. "Think about it! Everyone would automatically assume he lives in the mansion surrounded by a maze, what if he doesn't live in the mansion?"

"Well, I'm glad Jericho has good ideas." Jasper said. "Off to the town then, if anyone asks I'm  your prisoner, you found me snooping around."

* * *

 

Maugris stood looking out the window of his mansion. It was fun watching this new Makar try to find him. "Master?" Joseph said.

  "Yes." Maugris replied.

"Aaron, Jasper, and Tamara must have come from the river. Master Rufus and Alastair came through the mine. There was another person with them, most likely Callum Hunt, but he's still missing. We haven't been able to locate Jasper since he left the maze."

   "Well find them. I don't like surprises."

"Don't worry Master, those two are nothing to concern yourself over. Even if they figure out that the entrance is in the town, my men are on looking for them."

   "I'll concern myself over whatever I want. Don't forget the Makar slipped out of your hands once already. Lock the backdoor while your at it." Maugris said.


	30. Chapter 30

Aaron, Tamara, Alastair, and Master Rufus wondered through the maze for a while before deciding to take a break. "We're doing something wrong." Master Rufus said.

  "You're right," Aaron said, "No one would make it this hard to get to their house!"

"So how else would we get to the mansion?" Tamara said.

   "The mine." Alastair said. "There was a passage way in the mine that looked abandoned. It was dark, covered in spiderwebs. Maybe that's how to get there."

"Great, We'll go there." Aaron said, "Now how do we get out of here?"

* * *

 

Maugris watched the four people trapped in his maze desperately try to find a way out,  **guess they finally figured it out**. "You shouldn't play with your food Master Maugris." Drew said next to him.

  "Oh, and what would you do if they were right in front of you, helpless and vulnerable." Maugris said, Drew smiled, "Exactly. I'll play with them now, and you can do whatever you want to all but the Makar." Drews smile fell. "Oh come now Drew, if I could afford to let you hurt Aaron I would, but his body needs to be in good condition."

   "Of course Master." Drew said. "I guess I can still have plenty of fun with the counterweight."

"Callum Hunt's his name right." Maugris said moving a piece on a chess board. 

  "Yes, sir." Drew said moving a piece.

"He's the one piece that hasn't made an appearance yet, and I'm pretty sure he and Jasper have found each other." Maugris said, moving another piece.

   "He's pretty pathetic actually." Drew said moving another piece.

"Something about him puts me on edge." Maugris said, he moved one last piece, "Checkmate"

* * *

 

Call and Jasper stood just behind the tree line looking at the town. "So, ready to do this?" Call said. 

  "I guess." Jasper said.

Call wrapped the magic restricting rope around Jasper's hands, loose enough that Jasper would be able to get his hands out if necessary but tight enough no one would notice. They walked into the town and immediately they were both surrounded and taken prisoner. 

  The men had put some sort of glowing metal handcuffs on their hands. Call and Jasper both noticed that the men didn't bother blindfolding them as they were dragged into an elevator that went down, deep into the earth then through a tunnel, that must have gone under the maze, and back up another elevator into a big room. They didn't have a chance to take much of the room in before they were dragged up some stair where they were forced to kneel to the Enemy of Death.

   "And what do we have here? I guess we've located our missing piece." Maugris said smiling behind his silver mask. "For some reason I thought it would be more challenging."

"What would you like us to do with them, Master?" one of the men said.

  "Take them to room C12 and inform Drew that his entertainment is here." Maugris said turning to look back out at the scene unfolding in the maze.

* * *

 

Aaron came to another turn, right, Tamara, Alastair and Rufus on his heals, he went around another corner and stopped. They other three ran into him, he stood looking upon the mansion. "Sh!T" Aaron said.

  "They know we're here." Tamara said. "It can't be a coincidence that the moment we decide we can't get through the maze, we end up where we wanted to go."

Maugris stepped out of the shadow of the mansion clapping. "Well done Stewart." Other followers started coming out too, "I must admit there is one thing I can't figure out. How did you find my stronghold?"

  "You don't need to know that." Aaron said

"Oh, I'm sure I'll be able to get the information out of your friends, Goodbye Aaron Stewart." and Maugris lifted his hand toward Aaron.

* * *

 

Call screamed, he had never felt this much pain in his life. "Drew please! Stop hurting Call!" Jasper yelled, struggling against his chains. 

  "You're both so pathetic." Drew said. "So weak and useless."

"You're the weak one, I could totally beat you." Jasper said.

   "Yeah right." Drew said

"I bet I could beat you if you took these off." Jasper said pointing at his chains.

   "I'm not stupid Jasper."

"No, you're just weak."

   Drew glared at Jasper, "Fine but you asked for it." Drew left and came back after a few seconds. He had a glove on his hand that looked like the Alkahest but was silver. "Do you know what this is?" Drew said. "This is something Master made, it can kill anyone. Guard!" 

  A guard came in, "Let DeWinter free, I wish to teach him a lesson about pain." The guard released Jasper and Jasper knocked the guard out. Drew pointed the gloved hand at Jasper and Jasper fell to the ground writhing in pain. But through the pain Jasper grabbed the guards tazer and used it on Drew.

* * *

 

Aaron stood next to a window looking out on a maze. "I'll ask once more, how did you find my stronghold?" He turned around to face Tamara, Alastair and Rufus. The three of them were tied to chairs before him. "Very well, tell me or I'll kill Rajavi."

  "Don't tell him," Tamara said, "He'll kill us anyway."

"Very well, so be it." Maugris said through Aaron's body, but before he could kill her, he fell to the ground screaming, then fainted. Jasper stepped out of a hallway and pointed the his gloved arm at the Enemy's servants.

  "You all know what this is, release my friends or you're next." The men obeyed Jasper and let them go. 

* * *

 

Alastair sat in a chair in the Infirmary of the Magisterium. Before him was his son, laying unconscious. They had explained everything to the assembly, Aaron was being held in quarantine, he hadn't woken up since Jasper used the glove device on him. Alastair hoped that somehow Constantine had survived. He suspected Con was alive because one of Aaron's eyes had remained emerald green.


	31. Chapter 31

Callum slowly opened his eyes, he tried to sit up but stopped when his muscles greatly protested. "Call, you're awake!" Tamara said beside him.

  Call looked up, "So heaven is real." he said looking into her eyes and smiling.

"What happened?" Call tried to sit up again, succeeding this time. He looked around at everyone, Alastair was there, so was Master Rufus and Jasper. Something was missing though..  "Where's Aaron?" Call said fully awake. 

  The four of them looked at each other, "Maugris moved his soul into Aaron, but we think Aaron may be alive. One of his eyes remained green, maybe he was able to do what Jericho did all those years ago." Alastair told his son.

   "Where is he?" Call said panicking.

"The Assembly has him in quarantine, he woke up two days ago. Both his eyes have returned to green. He's claiming to be Aaron but they want Jericho to interrogate him to make sure it's really him."

  "Well knowing that's easy. Maugris didn't know he was Constantine if he knows he's Constantine, he must be Aaron." Call said.

"They want to make sure." Rufus said, "Maugris was smart, he could have figured it out."

   "The only reason we won was because Drew messed up." Jasper said. At the mention of Drew, Call tensed up. "Don't worry, Drew is in prison along with a lot of Maugris's other followers."

* * *

 

Aaron lay on what was basically a slanted table. He was securely strapped down, way more than necessary but he couldn't really complain even if he wanted to. He was blindfolded and gagged. The only times the gag came off was when members of the Assembly were asking him questions and when he was being fed. The blindfold only came off once a day so they could check to make sure his eyes were still green. He supposed it might be better that way, from what he saw the room he was in was pretty bright and practically all of it was white.

  He didn't remember anything that happened after Maugris had supposedly killed him, but the Assembly had hinted at enough of he that he had pieced together a pretty good idea. He had heard that Call had gotten hurt but despite his request the Assembly refused to give him any news. He figured no news was better than bad news though. He was  thinking about all the possible things that the Assembly might do to him when footsteps entered the room.

  Two of the footsteps were heavy, but the third person seemed lighter, someone younger perhaps. . . Maybe Tamara had convinced her parents to let her come. A chair was sat down and one person left, a guard must be. Aaron noticed that only one chair had been brought. The heavier of the remaining two people sat down in the chair, the younger person walked up to Aaron. The gag came out of Aarons mouth, "Tamara?" he said.

  The blindfold came off... "Call!" Aaron yelled excited. 

"Actually it's Jericho but I guess Call can hear you too."

   "You're okay? I heard about what Drew did..." Aaron started.

The Assembly man in the corner cleared his throat. "Oh yes, I'm actually here to interrogate you." Jericho said.

   "Oohhhh…" Aaron said disappointed, yet happy that at least he knew Call and Jericho were alright.

* * *

 

Tamara and Jasper sat at a table in the library of the Magisterium. Call had left five hours ago to go interrogate Aaron. "I can't help but notice no one has said thank you yet." Jasper said.

  Tamara looked at Jasper. "Thank you." Tamara said.

"Well, you're welcome."

  "Yes, thank you very much Jasper." Aaron said walking in next to Call.

"Aaron!" Tamara yelled running over to hug him." 

   "Well, I'm ready to finish my time at the Magisterium. Hopefully without too much drama." Aaron said.

And they lived as happily ever after as reality allows


End file.
